In what has already been a hard season for Los Angeles Angels fans, they will now have to watch as the team finishes 2025 without their star shortstop in Zach Neto.
Neto was placed on the 10-day Injured List on Tuesday with a left hand strain. It will keep him out for the remainder of the season. With the Angels officially out of the postseason as of Sunday, sidelining Neto for the year is the safe move.
“I think it's safe to say that we've probably seen him play his last game unfortunately this season,” Angels’ interim manager Ray Montgomery said. “That said, I think when you look at the body of work and what he's done, he should be incredibly proud of the season he had. It's not the way anybody wants to end it. But I mean, the work on the field speaks for itself. This is probably the smart thing to do in this situation.”
Neto injured his hand after being hit by a pitch from Cincinnati Reds pitcher Nick Martinez on August 20. He reaggravated it while batting against the Seattle Mariners on Thursday.
“It’s never fun to get hit, especially in a spot where it’s most common,” Neto said. “It’s my glove hand. I’m catching a ball there every single day. You know me. I like to throw myself around in the infield too. So diving doesn’t help me either. But it’s just a matter of not changing who you are. I’m still going to stand on the plate. If I get hit there, I get hit there again.”
In his third season in the major leagues, Neto posted a team-high 4.9 Wins Above Replacement in 128 games with the Halos. He posted a slashline of .257/.319/.474 with an OPS of .793. The 24-year-old posted a 20/20 season, smashing 26 home runs and swiping 26 bases.
With Neto being put on the IL, the Angels have selected the contract of Carter Kieboom from Triple-A. Still, the replacement for Neto looks to be shortstop Denzer Guzman. The 21-year-old out of the Dominican Republic made his debut on Saturday. In three games for the Halos, Guzman has recorded three hits, including his first MLB home run on Tuesday night.
Neto’s injury offers Guzman a stretch to play his natural position in games that don’t exactly hold much value with the team already out of the playoffs. While no injury is a good one, Neto’s hand injury comes at a good time, as he has the opportunity to shut it down for the season and focus solely on his health going into 2026.