TEMPE, Ariz. — Zach Neto’s goal is simply to stay on the field this season. And if he, and the rest of the Angels key players can do the same, he has high expectations.
“I think we’re right there,” the Angels’ shortstop said. “We don’t have young guys who haven’t experienced this before We all know what it takes now to get to that next level, playing 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 and proving people wrong. That’s what we love to do in here.”
Neto has only known losing with the Angels. The only player on the roster who experienced a winning season with the Angels is Mike Trout, who was there when they were last over .500, in 2015.
Now, Trout is 34 years old and on the downside of his career, while Neto is 25 and considered one of the rising stars in the game.
If the Angels are to finally win again, it is likely that Neto will lead them there.
“The sky is the limit for him,” manager Kurt Suzuki said. “The first thing he’d like to tell is he wants to play a full season. He wants to stay out there on the field. We’re the best club we can be with him on the field.”
Neto suffered a shoulder injury at the end of the 2024 season and had surgery. He missed the first few weeks of 2025. He also missed time with injuries in 2023.
Around that, though, his numbers have steadily increased. His OPS has gone from .685 to .761 to .793. The major league average for a shortstop is .723.
Last season Neto jumped from 23 to 26 homers, even though he had 48 fewer plate appearances. While Neto played 27 fewer games in 2025, he was mostly at leadoff, so he came to bat more often each game.
Neto said he’s “hopefully in the leadoff spot every single day” in 2026. With the departure of Taylor Ward, the Angels could use Neto in more of a run-producing spot, but for now Suzuki also seems to be happy with Neto at the top.
“I think it’s amazing that he wants to be a leadoff hitter,” Suzuki said. “That’s where his mentality is. Trout can lead off. We have options. But having Zach have that mentality is great.”
One of the holes in Neto’s game is strikeouts. He whiffed in 27% of his plate appearances, which is worse than the big league average of 22%.
He said that’s been an issue that he’s worked on with new hitting coaches Brady Anderson and John Mabry. They told him that, as he advances in his career, pitchers are going to throw him tougher pitches to hit, so he needs to take them.
“I got with Brady and John about how special of a player I am and knowing that everybody else in the league knows that, and it’s just a matter of hitting the pitch that I want to hit and not what they’re trying to throw me,” Neto said. “That’s a learning step. I had a very good year the year before and now people are starting to understand that I could hit the fastball pretty good, so it’s just a matter of being able to hit a pitch that I like and not trying to hit what they throw at me.”
STEPHENSON UPDATE
Right-hander Robert Stephenson continues to make steady progress toward what he expects will be a spot on the Opening Day roster.
“Absolutely,” Stephenson said after his bullpen session on Monday. “Being a reliever, you really don’t need more than a handful of games in spring to be able to get ready for the season and then I can still build up during the season. Just being able to throw one inning at a time helps obviously. But I don’t see any reason why I shouldn’t be able to be ready to go for Opening Day.”
Stephenson threw some offspeed pitches during Monday’s session, and he said he’s expecting to throw everything at normal intensity the next time he takes the mound.
Stephenson, 32, is in the final year of a three-year, $33-million deal, and so far injuries have limited him to just 10 innings in 12 games. He missed the start of last season rehabbing from Tommy John surgery and the end of the season with what he subsequently described as “thoracic outlet symptoms.”
NOTES
The Angels used the same three outfielders on Monday as they did in their exhibition opener, but each was in a different spot. On Saturday, they went with — from left to right — Josh Lowe, Bryce Teodosio and Jo Adell. On Monday, they used Adell, Lowe and Teodosio. “Trying to move guys around, to give us some outfield flexibility,” Suzuki said. “Seeing how they react, how they get jumps and all that stuff.” …
Veteran Angels relievers Kirby Yates, Jordan Romano and Drew Pomeranz were not on the list to pitch any of the first three exhibition games. Typically, veteran relievers get started in games a little later. “Those guys have done it for a long time and we’ll ease them in,” Suzuki said. “They know what they have to do to get ready. We trust them.”
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