Mike Trout's teammate Nolan Schanuel shares why forgotten Giants star is one of his favorites

Los Angeles Angels first baseman and Mike Trout's teammate Nolan Schanuel is enjoying a breakthrough year for the team in the ongoing 2025 MLB season.

Nolan Schanuel joined Trent Rush on an episode of the "Under the Halo" podcast this week. The Angels first baseman talked about his journey to the major leagues and named a forgotten star as one of his favorite players to watch growing up.

While he named current teammate Mike Trout and former Boston Red Sox icon David Ortiz as his first two picks, he also picked former San Francisco Giants outfielder Cody Ross. He said (30:00 onwards):

"David Ortiz was a big guy for me, Cody Ross, was a big guy for me that a lot of people don't even know. That's the crazy thing, like Cody Ross was a baseball player, a high IQ baseball player.

"I think I just loved to watch him because I was a student of the game. I loved to go to Marlins games when I could, spring training games all the time and watching Cody Ross and just a very high IQ baseball player who knew the game in and out."

The former outfielder's best years came with the Florida Marlins (now Miami Marlins). Ross helped the team to the World Series win in 2010 and was named the NLCS MVP that year.

Mike Trout helps Angels to win over Nationals with clutch home run

Three-time MVP Mike Trout came clutch for Los Angeles on Saturday as he smacked a game-tying home run against the Washington Nationals. His 13th home run of the season came in a six-run surge from the Angels in the seventh inning.

The Angels added another run in the eighth inning as the Halos turned around a 2-1 deficit to win 8-2. Mike Trout is slashing 290/.427/.430 with four home runs since returning from Injury.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash