The Angels could welcome Zach Neto back from the injured list as soon as tomorrow evening. As Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register and Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com each observed, Neto was in Long Beach on Thursday after playing consecutive games with Triple-A Salt Lake on his minor league rehab stint.
The team has not made any declarations on Neto’s status. The 24-year-old made it through nine innings at shortstop on back-to-back nights with Salt Lake on Tuesday and Wednesday. Manager Ron Washington had previously called that a necessity before the team would consider reinstating him. Neto now seems poised to rejoin them as they try to snap a four-game skid. They’ll play host to the Giants for three this weekend.
Neto injured his right shoulder late last season. He underwent surgery in November that was always expected to keep him out of the lineup on Opening Day. While he didn’t appear in any Spring Training games, he wasn’t far behind. He began a rehab assignment on April 1. Neto has looked no worse for wear against minor league pitching. He hit four home runs with a .286/.397/.592 slash over 13 games with Salt Lake.
The Angels have managed a 9-9 record despite playing without arguably their second-best position player. Neto was the team’s most productive player last season. He hit .249/.318/.443 across 602 plate appearances. He led the club with 30 stolen bases and trailed only Taylor Ward for the team lead with 23 homers. It was an impressive first full MLB season for the 2022 first-round pick.
Los Angeles has gotten no production at shortstop over the first few weeks. They entered play Thursday with a .140/.169/.158 slash and no home runs in 60 plate appearances out of the position. They’re last in batting average and slugging, while only the White Sox have received a worse on-base mark. Tim Anderson and Kevin Newman have combined for almost all the playing time. Anderson is hitting .171 with one double over 44 trips to the plate. Newman has three hits (all singles) and no walks in nine games. Nicky Lopez, who signed a major league contract just before Opening Day, has only made one start. He’s 0-6 with a strikeout.
Neto’s return will almost certainly result in someone getting designated for assignment. The Angels don’t need to create a 40-man roster spot, but no one on their bench can be optioned. Newman, Lopez and J.D. Davis all have more than enough service time to refuse a minor league assignment, as does Anderson. It’s unlikely that they’d drop Newman, who signed a $2.75MM free agent deal early in the offseason. One of the other three players is likely to be DFA as the corresponding move.
Angels are a surprising .500 team. Will adding Neto be enough to keep them there?
Not to be a downer, but I hope Angels fans enjoy this level of good baseball because it might not last long knowing the history of this franchise…
@pads fans. Neto is a nice bat In the lineup. O’hoppe and Paris were hot and are
unfortunately tapering off. They can finish around .500. They have a decent lineup. Trout is about two games away from playing more games than last year.
Rex, most of us, you included, would probably be very happy with a .500 finish. When my wife asked what I wanted for Christmas I said Trout to play more than 100 games this season.
@out. He’s about 1/4th of the way. I can see them doing that. although Washington has made some big bullpen mistakes. Astros and Rangers are good teams so I’m not worried.
Pads Fans: “Angels are a surprising .500 team. Will adding Neto be enough to keep them there?”
The team actually had a very slightly better start last season (Also 9-9, but with a better run differential). and that ended with 99 losses. If lots of things go right (Trout stays healthy and gets back some of his form, a few guys have break out seasons, etc) I think we can do better than 99 losses, but .500 seems like some serious wishful thinking.
Probably not, but he will have a trickle down effect on several positions.
Neto>>Newman
Newman> Anderson
Anderson>Lopez
Paris>>Newman/Anderson/Lopez
No room at 2B or 3B
Lopez gets DFA.
When Moncada returns Anderson gets DFA.
The team gets incrementally better, which was the theme of the offseason. No huge improvements, just little ones at many positions. Now to get Arte to allow sign a top of the rotation starter in the upcoming offseason and we could be close to a WC. .
@outinleft. Yeah it probably comes down to Davis or Anderson. Davis can play 1st or do you keep Anderson to pitch run, bunt probably better at some of the small things Washington likes. Does it really matter probably not. Moancada is injury prone. So do you keep a extra third baseman. People forget that trout played 20 games. The record should be different if he can survive 60 games. The bullpen hasn’t looked great, but it should settle down Washington has made some questionable decisions with it.
But Tim Anderson is doing so well…
Newman would be the first to go.
Newman is signed for next season so Lopez is probably first to go
Thank god. Can’t let that Tim’s power bat get snatched up by some rival.
Lopez will go now. Then Anderson when Moncada returns. Then Newman if there is another addition.
That’s Jackie Anderson, get it right
Nice knowing you Nicky Lopez (or JD Davis).
It’s time to move on from Timmy. Forever.
@orange2001. Probably Lopez angels don’t need him in the bullpen atleast he was the torpedo bat dealer
It has to be Lopez, right?
With Anderson, Newman, and Paris already on board (not to mention Kieboom, Yolmer, and Kingery), Nicky’s signing at the end of spring training made zero sense whatsoever.
I find it amazing that players who are so bad that they get dfa’d more than once in a season still find a team to sign them, like they know something the other teams don’t.
Yeah, Lopez parlayed one BABIP-led .300 season into around $10M since. I mean, good for him and his agent, but still…
Angels fans may have witnessed Tim Anderson’s last days in a MLB uniform. It’s amazing how fast his skills declined.
They’ve played 15 of 18 games on the road. To be 9-9 isn’t bad.
Wait wot?
Came to make that same point. Travel is a grind. By the time they got to TX, they were gassed
Like the Halo Bros, I’m not buying this “the angels are gassed from a roadtrip” nonsense. While I was hopeful with such a promising start, its clear who the Angels are, and its this last two series where they went 1-5.
It’s a statistical truth that teams get tired on long road trips. Northwestern did a study on this.
The numbers overall historically in mlb:
First 3 games of a road trip: ~.480–.500 win rate.
Games 7–10+: ~.440–.470 win rate.
West coast teams fare even worse according to the study.
This organization is a joke
Thank goodness.
I have real questions about his range, but I have no questions about his offense. Now that Paris, and everyone else, have come down to Earth, we need Neto to hit.
Welcome back Neto.
Tim Anderson is overcooked. Time to DFA him.