The Los Angeles Angels had a leadership void last season, and it helped contribute to their disastrous second half. The Angels were within striking distance of .500 at the All-Star break, but things went off the rails badly when manager Ron Washington had to step down due to his health issues, and there was no one to stop the bleeding and right the ship when interim manager Ray Montgomery took over and things started going sideways.
Shortstop Zach Neto thinks he can fill that role, and it makes a lot of sense at this point in his career. He’s quickly become one of the best shortstops in the game, but he’s still one of those players that nobody really knows about.
Teammate Nolan Schanuel does, though. He’s been playing with Neto since 2023, and Neto and Schanuel are part of the Angels’ young corps.
“I think it's awesome growing up playing against him and just seeing what kind of player he was like,” Schanuel said in an interview with Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. “Just watching him since my first time getting called up in 2023 and seeing how he's playing now and how much more comfortable he is, it kind of rubs off on other guys. He's just a great player, so being able to be teammates with him and watch him thrive is awesome.”
Neto’s numbers show just how much he’s thriving. The former 13th pick in the 2022 draft had a slash line of .257/.319/.474 last year, and he added 26 homers, 26 stolen bases and 62 RBIs in just 128 games.
The shortstop also understands the Angels’ situation as a whole, both with the young corps and the diminished expectations that come with playing in Anaheim.
“I keep saying it around camp all the time, like we're not a young group anymore,” Neto said. “We all know what it takes now to get to that next level and play in October. It's just a matter of trusting each other. Staying healthy is the most important thing and just going out there and competing, knowing that everybody thinks we're going to lose every single game. Just proving people wrong.”
Neto is also an adventurous sort who clearly doesn’t mind new experiences on the diamond. He took some hacks against pitcher Devyn Netz of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League in camp recently, and he was more than a little impressed when she pulled the string on him with a drop ball, which is softball-speak for a change-up, then came up and in on him with a rising fastball.
“That was definitely my first time,” Neto said. “I was trash talking my sister [Meghan] a bunch because she played softball. But standing in there, I see why it's difficult. But it was an awesome time.”
It’s that combination of amiability and openness that helps make Neto an accessible leader, and that leadership is also playing well with new Angels manager Kurt Suzuki.
“The sky's the limit for him,” Suzuki said. “I'm sure he'd be the first one to tell you he wants to play a full season. We're the best club we can be with him on the field every single day. But just watching him go about his business, watching him work his routine, it's pretty amazing to see.”