Angels’ Zach Neto Will Begin Opening Day on IL, Still Recovering From Shoulder Surgery
The Los Angeles Angels will be without their starting shortstop when the 2025 season begins in less than four weeks.
Zach Neto, who underwent surgery on his right shoulder last November, will begin the regular season on the injured list when his team visits the Chicago White Sox on March 27. Manager Ron Washington broke the news Friday, confirming what most had already expected heading into camp.
“I don’t think he’s gonna make Opening Day,” Washington told reporters Thursday, including MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger, regarding Neto’s status. “It may be soon after, but I don’t think it’s gonna be Opening Day. And when I say soon after — that could be a week after, that could be two weeks after, it might be a month. But we want him to keep continuing to progress. We’re not gonna force it.”
Neto has been making progress in his rehab this spring, fielding ground balls at short and throwing from 60 feet multiple times a week. On Wednesday, he stepped into the box to hit on the field for the first time since last season.
The 24-year-old infielder injured his shoulder while sliding into second base in Chicago versus the White Sox on September 26th. He spent nearly a month attempting to rehab his ailment before being advised he’d require surgery.
“I feel good,” Neto said. “I’m ahead of schedule and trying to do everything I can to get back as soon as possible. But the biggest thing is to come back as healthy as possible. Not only looking at short-term, but for long-term, hopefully not having any setbacks. But the decision is not on me, it’s on the training staff.”
The next steps for Neto will include testing his shoulder while throwing across the diamond to first base and facing live pitching, neither of which he’s done thus far. He also hasn’t practiced sliding into bases yet.
After injuring his shoulder on a play at second last year, the young infielder – who stole a career-high 30 bases in 2024 – plans to slide feet first as often as possible moving forward.
“If it was up to me, I’d say I’d be ready by Opening Day,” Neto said. “But that’s why [the trainers] get paid, and that’s why they’re in the spots that they are to make sure that I come back and there’s no other setbacks when I come back. So, I trust them.”
Until Neto returns, which could be early into the season, Washington listed Kevin Newman, Scott Kingery and Tim Anderson – in camp as a non-roster invitee – as the club’s immediate options who could fill in at short.
“We’ve got TA, we’ve got Newman, we’ve got Kingery,” Washington said. “These are the guys that we think can handle the situation until Neto returns. As far as us making a decision on that, we haven’t made that decision yet. We’re going to continue to build them up, and at some point we will make that decision. Right now, we’re trying to get everybody reps.”
Newman, signed to a one-year deal worth $2.75 million with a club option for 2026 over the off-season, figures to be the leading candidate to assume most of the reps in Neto’s absence. He spent last season with the Arizona Diamondbacks, hitting .278/.311/.375 with three home runs and 28 RBIs in 111 games.
Most of his value stems from his glove, registering plus-six defensive runs saved in 284.2 innings at second and plus-four in 428 innings at short a season ago. Overall, he was worth a career-high 1.4 fWAR in the desert.
Neto was among the Angels’ top performers in 2024, slashing .249/.318/.443 while recording career-highs in home runs (23) and RBIs (77) over 155 games. He led all position players in fWAR (3.5) and finished second in wRC+ (114) behind Luis Rengifo (117).
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @Hall_Thomas_
Photo: Sewageboy. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.