Angels teammates Zach Neto, left, and Jo Adell celebrate after a 2-0 win over the San Francisco Giants on Friday night at Angel Stadium. Neto has proven to be a difference-maker for the Angels. (Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
This is Star Wars weekend at Angel Stadium, and on Friday the Angels activated their best player from the injured list, so the graphics on the video board pretty much wrote themselves: “Return of the Neto.”
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That would be Zach Neto, not Mike Trout. It could be Trout again, but for last year and again in his season debut Friday, the Angels’ best player was Neto.
For Ron Washington, the Angels’ manager, young players earn their stripes, then they earn them all over again. On Friday, Neto batted seventh.
“When you have a superstar like Mike, when he gets going, he’s the type of guy who can carry the team,” Washington said. “We’re not expecting Neto to carry this team.”
Read more: Tyler Anderson shines and Zach Neto makes an impact in Angels’ win over Giants
There is nothing controversial in that statement. Trout is bound for Cooperstown, a three-time most valuable player. The idea that a third-year shortstop would be the guy on which Angels fans were waiting did not sit well with Neto.
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“I’m not the savior,” Neto said. “I’m just here to do my job.”
He might be a savior, if not the savior. As Neto completed his rehabilitation from shoulder surgery, the replacement shortstops in Anaheim batted .159 with a .372 OPS. In 2021, the last season before the adoption of the universal designated hitter, Angels pitchers batted .150 with a .377 OPS.
Neto put up 5.1 WAR last season, according to Baseball Reference, bettered among American League West players only by Oakland slugger Brent Rooker (5.6) and Houston slugger Yordan Alvarez (5.4).
Zach Neto hits a two-run double against the San Francisco Giants in the second inning Friday. (Luke Hales / Getty Images)
You may have heard of the two players immediately behind Neto: Texas shortstop Corey Seager (5.0), winner of a World Series championship with the Dodgers and another with the Rangers; and ex-Houston outfielder Kyle Tucker, now with the Chicago Cubs, who could be the winner of a half-billion dollars in free agency in the coming winter.
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“If what he did last year is his ceiling, we’re in trouble,” Washington said of Neto, “meaning that there’s a lot more.”
In his first at-bat of the season, against San Francisco Giants ace Logan Webb, Neto rocketed a 106-mph one-hopper that sent Giants shortstop Willy Adames staggering.
As the ball headed into the left-center field alley, Neto raced around first base and dove headfirst into second. The hustle double drove in Nolan Schanuel with the game’s first run, and Neto subsequently scored the game’s second run on an error by Giants third baseman Matt Chapman.
Final score: Angels 2, Giants 0.
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The Angels had returned home dragging a four-game losing streak, and Trout said Neto was just what the doctor ordered. For the past week, as Neto completed his minor league rehabilitation assignment, Trout said Neto repeatedly texted him.
“He was bugging me to go to the front office and tell them to bring him back,” Trout said.
“His energy, you can feed off that. The last couple games, the energy has been down a little bit, unlike the first week and a half of the season. We’ve got to pick it up. He’s got some talent, and he knows it.”
Said Neto: “Everybody has a bad road trip. Every team is bound to have one. The Dodgers had one. And unfortunately, it was our turn. So, you know, we’re just here to come back in the homestand, kind of get back on the winning side of it. And keep everything rolling.”
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The season is 19 games old, far too soon to draw any conclusions, but the early signs for Trout have leaned toward the unfavorable. Of the nine players in Friday’s lineup, Trout was the only one who finished the game with a batting average below .200.
He leads the team with six home runs. But he is batting .171, and he struck out in all three at-bats Friday. In his last six games, he has two hits — both singles — with one walk and 13 strikeouts in 22 at-bats.
The Angels lead the AL in attendance, with a fireworks show and Star Wars giveaway item on deck Saturday. They are one game above .500, in second place in a division in which every team has given up more runs than it has scored.
As former major league pitcher Joaquin Andujar once said, “You can sum up the game of baseball in one word: You never know.” We don’t yet know about these Angels, but we know their chances are better with Neto.
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Read more: Championship blues: Dodgers games used to be affordable family entertainment. No more.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
