HOUSTON — Nolan Schanuel spent his winter trying to improve his bat speed, and so far it’s paid off.

The Angels first baseman has increased his average bat speed from 65.2 mph to 68.2 mph, making him one of just three everyday players in the big leagues to have an increase of at least 3 mph.

After hitting his first two homers of the season on Saturday and Sunday, Schanuel is hitting .298 with an .856 OPS. Last year Schanuel hit .250 with a .706 OPS. He hit 13 homers last season.

“He looks a little stronger,” manager Ron Washington said. “I think he has a better idea what they’re trying to do to him than what he had last year. And last year set him up for what he’s doing this year. Just watch and see where it goes. We’re very happy with the way he’s swinging the bat, and he caught one last night that just showed what he’s got in him. And the time will come when he learns how to do that with a little more consistency.”

Schanuel said as he has increased his bat speed he has needed to adjust his timing.

“I feel like early on, especially in spring, I was catching the ball too far out forward, causing a lot of top spin,” he said. “And a little bit to start the season as well. So one thing I had to work on was getting the ball a little deeper.”

The average exit velocity Schanuel has produced is up slightly, from 86.1 mph to 86.5. That’s still below the major league average of 88.5 mph.

Earlier this season Schanuel hit a ball at 109.8 mph. His previous highest exit velocity was 105.9 mph.

Schanuel said the increase has come from lifting weights and doing “overload-underload” drills, in which he alternates swinging a heavy bat and a light bat. He still does it every three days.

PROPS FOR TROUT

A day after Mike Trout had a cordial meeting with the fan who pulled a foul ball from his glove when he reached into the stands, Washington said he was pleased with the way Trout handled the situation.

“Class act,” Washington said. “That’s who Mike Trout is. I don’t think those fans were doing it intentionally. They were out there competing for a ball in the stands.”

Fan interference was not called because the ball was on the fans’ side of the fence when the contact occurred.

PITCHER CHECK

Angels starters had a 3.70 ERA prior to Sunday’s game, which ranked 10th in the majors. They had quality starts in 43% of their games, which ranked tied for fifth. The major league average is 31%.

“I love it,” Washington said. “They’re keeping us in games. That’s their job. The only thing I can say about that is, keep it up.”

The relievers, on the other hand, ranked last with a 6.45 ERA. The Angels overall ERA of 4.68 ranked 24th.

NETO UPDATE

Zach Neto played all nine innings at shortstop for Triple-A Salt Lake on Sunday, the first time in his rehab from shoulder surgery that he’s played an entire game in the field.

Salt Lake has a day off on Monday, and then Neto is scheduled to play all nine innings in the field on Tuesday and Wednesday. Washington has said he wants to see Neto play full games on back-to-back days before he’s activated, so the best-case scenario would be bringing him up to play in Texas on Thursday. The Angels also could wait to start him at home on Friday.

He’ll reach the 20-day limit on his rehab assignment next Sunday.