Zach Neto He has four tattoos on his left arm. What really catches the eye is the collage on the lower arm, with a lion roaring at the top of his kingdom.
“This,” Neto said, pointing to the tattoo, “is just my journey.”
O Angels‘the shortstop is a son of Miami, so the lion overlooks Miami Beach. His date major league debut it is part of the tattoo, as is the Major League Baseball logo.
“For me, finally making it,” he said.
The camel represents your college mascot. And the lion?
“I always see myself as a lion,” he said. “King of the jungle.”
For an Angels team that has been lost in the wilderness for a decade, Neto is anchoring himself as the king of the infield.
Neto, 23, is in his second major league season, two years removed from his last game with the Campbell University Fighting Camels. Of the 39 players selected in the first round of the 2022 draft, three made the majors. One is back in the minors, one is on the injured list and none of them are WAR positive.
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And then there’s Neto, one of the many prospects trying to establish themselves as the Angels use this season to determine which young players can help them return to glory.
“No no no no,” Angels Manager Ron Washington he said. “He he has established itself.”
Angels’ boring summer could get worse if they trade veterans – including pitcher Tyler Andersontheir only healthy and effective starter and outfielder Taylor Districtyour No. 3 hitter – for desperately needed prospects.
But that would be in service of their future, which they hope to build around Neto and the catcher Logan O’Hoppe.
Neto this season became the second shortstop in franchise history to hit 10 home runs before the All-Star break, joining Jim Fregosiwho did so in 1970. With his next stolen base, Neto would become the first Angels infielder with 10 home runs and 10 stolen bases before halftime since the All-Star third baseman Troia Glausin 2000.
In his 64 seasons, only one Angels shortstop has hit more than 14 home runs in a season: Fregosi, who did it 56 years ago, 59 years ago and 60 years ago.
Grandchild is batting .250 with a .732 OPS, in the same ballpark as Antonio Volpe of the New York Yankees, hitting .271 with six home runs and a .742 OPS. Volpe has more than four times the All-Star votes mainly because (a) he plays for the Yankees and (b) he plays for the first-place Yankees.
But Volpe, a defending Golden Glove winner, also has a superior WAR because he gets on base more often and because he ranks, at least according to publicly available defensive metrics, as the primary defensive shortstop again this season. These metrics do not please Neto.
“Day in and day out, I see him playing hard,” Washington said. “I don’t care about the metrics.”
Washington compared Neto to Dansby Swanson, two-time All-Star he coached in Atlanta. In his second season, Swanson batted .232 with six home runs.
“Dansby wasn’t what Dansby is when he got here,” Washington said. “He did some work.
“He reminds me of Dansby in the way he controls things out there.”
Mark Gubicza, an Angels broadcaster and major league pitcher for 14 years, said Neto’s instincts and expectation reminded him of the Hall of Famer. Cal Ripken Jr.
Anderson compared Neto favorably to Trevor Story, his former Colorado Rockies teammate, who batted .239 and 191 hits in his second season. Story has emerged as an All-Star and Anderson believes Neto can too.
“I don’t care if he hits .195. You want him at shortstop every day,” Anderson said. “His defense is very good.”
ESPN last week considered the issue of which shortstop would a team want over the next five years. The first two picks were the most outstanding young players: MVP candidates Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals and Gunnar Henderson of the Baltimore Orioles. Volpe came in eighth place.
Of the 15 shortstops mentioned – three of whom currently play in the minor leagues – Neto was not one of them.
The way Neto would say it, this would just be the last in the pile of chips he carried on his shoulder. You might not know this from watching him play.
“I like to have a lot of fun outside,” he said. “You could say it’s confidence. You could say it’s arrogance. Whatever you want to say. It’s just the way I behave every day. I just go out there and try to have fun.”
That’s how they do it in the 305 area code.
“Being born and raised in Miami is kind of a reputation there,” Neto said.
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Perennial high school powers courted him, he said, but only after he emerged as a prep star. He refused to transfer.
Big college programs courted him, he said, but only after he emerged as a star at Campbell. He refused to transfer.
Big agents pursued him, he said, but only when it became evident that he would be a million-dollar pick. He turned it down and stayed with the low-key hometown agent who helped get him into college summer leagues.
And when he signed with the Angels, he reminded his parents that he had promised to get his college degree and promised that one day he would get it, no matter how long baseball might keep him away from the classroom.
“It’s more about loyalty for me,” Neto said.
It makes you appreciate Mike Trout even more. The best player in franchise history twice opted out of free agency to stay in Anaheim, where the home team last won a postseason game 15 years ago in the same year The trout was prepared.
“As a kid, I always looked up to Mike,” Neto said. “Being able to share the same dressing room and field and hear what he thinks is a dream come true.
“He could have had the opportunity to go to any other team, and he kept his loyalty and your word when trying to build something here. This is exactly what I want. I really appreciate that from him. I’m grateful to be able to join him on this journey to change something here.”
So when the Angels finally return to the playoffs for the first time since 2014, will you be the shortstop?
“That’s right,” said Neto. “That’s right.”
This story originally appeared on Los Angeles Times.
