Zach Neto

{{Infobox baseball biography

| name = Zach Neto

| image = Zach Neto (52968463788) (cropped 2).jpg

| caption = Neto with the Los Angeles Angels in 2023

| team = Los Angeles Angels

| number = 9

| position = Shortstop

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|2001|1|31}}

| birth_place = Miami, Florida, U.S.

| bats = Right

| throws = Right

| debutleague = MLB

| debutdate = April 15

| debutyear = 2023

| debutteam = Los Angeles Angels

| statleague = MLB

| statyear = June 2, 2025

| stat1label = Batting average

| stat1value = .245

| stat2label = Home runs

| stat2value = 42

| stat3label = Runs batted in

| stat3value = 132

| baseball_ref = netoza01

| teams =

Los Angeles Angels ({{mlby|2023}}–present)

}}

Zachary Adam Neto (born January 31, 2001) is an American professional baseball shortstop for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball for the Campbell Fighting Camels. He was selected by the Angels in the first round of the 2022 MLB draft and made his MLB debut in 2023.

Early life

Zachary Adam Neto was born on January 31, 2001, in Miami, Florida, as one of three children in a working-class Cuban American family. His father, Joaquin, is a mailman while his mother, Magali, is an AT&T employee. Neto grew up as a Miami Marlins fan and learned baseball from his father.{{cite web |title=Zach Neto - Baseball |url=https://gocamels.com/sports/baseball/roster/zach-neto/8991 |website=Campbell University |access-date=April 30, 2023}}{{cite news |last1=Villa |first1=Walter |title=Miami native grows into a hot prospect |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/857274509/ |pages=13A and 17A |access-date=April 30, 2023 |work=Miami Herald |publisher=McClatchy |date=July 12, 2022}}

Neto began high school at Doral Academy Preparatory School but left after two weeks. He later enrolled at Miami Coral Park Senior High School. Neto posted a career .407 batting average and was selected to three All-District teams at Coral Park but did not receive significant college scouting due in part to the high leg kick in his swing mechanics. He went unselected in the 2019 Major League Baseball draft and did not receive an athletic scholarship offer from any Power Five university. Neto partook in college bus tours organized by Lazaro Llanes, a local scout, where he was first introduced to Campbell University. Prior to his senior year in high school, Neto committed to play college baseball for the Campbell Fighting Camels.

College career

Neto honored his commitment to attend Campbell and enrolled for fall 2019. He arrived on campus at {{convert|5|ft|10|in|m|2}} tall and {{convert|160|lb}} and began eating six meals a day at the school's cafeteria to aid in his new weight training regimen. He began the 2020 season recovering from a cyst removal surgery on his right hand. Campbell intended to use Neto as a two-way player but he appeared in only four games (including one as a pitcher) before the remainder of the season was canceled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. That summer, he played in the South Florida Collegiate Baseball League with the Delray Beach Lightning, where he batted .439 with six home runs and 32 RBIs in 40 games and posted a 4.50 ERA in 10 pitching appearances.{{cite web |title=Zach Neto Amateur, College & Minor Leagues Statistics & History |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=neto--000zac |website=Baseball Reference |access-date=August 25, 2022}}

In 2021, Neto batted .405 with 12 home runs, 58 RBIs, 17 doubles, and 12 stolen bases over 44 starts at shortstop. He primarily pitched out of the bullpen, going 4–0 with a 3.43 ERA and 16 strikeouts across 21 innings in 11 appearances (one start). Following the season, he was named the Big South Conference Player of the Year, first-team all-Big South, and received All-American selections from several organizations, including second-team from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA).{{Cite web|url=https://bigsouthsports.com/news/2021/5/25/big-south-announces-2021-baseball-annual-award-winners.aspx|title = Big South Announces 2021 Baseball Annual Award Winners|website=Bigsouthsports.com}} Following the season's end, he played in the Cape Cod Baseball League with the Brewster Whitecaps. During his time there, he sprained his ankle during a play and was released by the team due to the injury; however, he ultimately rejoined the roster before the end of the season, considered a rare occurrence.{{Cite web|url=https://eu.capecodtimes.com/story/sports/2021/08/08/cape-league-neto-continues-improbable-return-brewster-division-clinching-win/5529110001/|title = Cape League: Neto continues improbable return in Brewster division-clinching win|website=Eu.capecodtimes.com}} He finished the summer season batting .304 with three home runs and 10 RBIs in 16 games.

Prior to the 2022 season, Neto was named to the watchlist for the Golden Spikes Award, given annually to the best amateur baseball player in the country. Neto finished the regular season batting .407 with 15 home runs and 50 RBIs over 53 games. He led Campbell to Big South regular season and tournament championships as well as a berth to the 2022 NCAA tournament, winning the Big South tournament MVP in the process. He was later named Big South Player of the Year and first-team all-Big South for the second consecutive season. He was also named to several All-American teams, including first-team from Perfect Game and second-team from the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and D1Baseball.{{cite web | url=https://www.sanfordherald.com/archives/camels-dominate-all-bsc-baseball-team/article_dc157494-bf56-5542-87aa-fb84f3f49f1b.html | title=Camels dominate all-BSC baseball team|website=Sanfordherald.com | date=May 25, 2022}}

Neto entered the 2022 Major League Baseball draft with media consideration as one of its top prospects.{{Cite web |last=Holland |first=Monica |date=June 4, 2022 |title=Zach Neto: 3 things to know about the Campbell baseball shortstop |url=https://www.fayobserver.com/story/sports/college/baseball/2022/06/04/campbell-baseball-zach-neto-facts-mlb-draft-projection/7500191001/ |access-date=June 27, 2024 |website=The Fayetteville Observer |language=en-US}} MLB.com and The Sporting News ranked him 17th on their top prospect lists while Keith Law of The Athletic ranked him 9th.{{cite web |title=Top Baseball Draft Prospects - 2022 |url=https://www.mlb.com/prospects/2022/draft/ |website=MLB.com |publisher=MLB Advanced Media |access-date=April 30, 2023}}{{cite news |last1=Sutelan |first1=Edward |title=MLB Draft prospects 2022: Final big board of top 100 players overall, ranked from Druw Jones to Ben Joyce |url=https://www.sportingnews.com/us/mlb/news/mlb-draft-prospects-2022-big-board-top-100-druw-jones-ben-joyce/c0cpsatybtoxdyhsiab99ips |access-date=April 30, 2023 |work=The Sporting News |date=July 19, 2022}}{{cite news |last1=Law |first1=Keith |title=2022 MLB Draft Top 100 prospects: Keith Law's final rankings ahead of Round 1 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/3409886/2022/07/10/mlb-draft-2022-top-100-ranking/ |access-date=April 30, 2023 |work=The Athletic |publisher=The New York Times Company |date=July 10, 2022 |url-access=subscription}} He participated in the MLB Draft Combine at Petco Park in San Diego in June 2022.{{cite web | url=https://www.mlb.com/news/draft-combine-top-prospects-preview | title=Everything you need to know: Draft Combine | website=MLB.com }}

Professional career

File:Zach Neto 1 61824 (cropped).jpg

The Los Angeles Angels selected Neto in the first round with the 13th overall selection of the 2022 Major League Baseball draft.{{cite web|url=https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/high-school/prep-miami-dade/article263428703.html|title=He never even made 2nd-team all-county at Coral Park. Now, Zach Neto is a 1st-round pick|website=Miamiherald.com|access-date=August 11, 2022}} The selection made him the highest draft pick in Campbell baseball history.{{Cite web|url=https://gocamels.com/news/2022/7/17/baseball-neto-drafted-13th-overall-by-los-angeles-angels.aspx|title=Neto drafted 13th overall by Los Angeles Angels|website=Gocamels.com|date=July 17, 2022 |access-date=August 11, 2022}} He signed with the team for $3.5 million.{{cite web | url=https://www.mlb.com/news/pirates-2022-draft-signings-tracker | title=Pirates 2022 Draft signings tracker | website=MLB.com }}

Neto was initially assigned to the Tri-City Dust Devils of the High-A Northwest League to begin his professional career.{{Cite news|last=Hoornstra|first=J. P.|url=https://www.ocregister.com/2022/07/29/angels-assign-first-round-draft-pick-zach-neto-to-double-a-to-begin-pro-career|title=Angels assign first-round draft pick Zach Neto to High-A to begin pro career|work=Orange County Register|date=July 30, 2022|access-date=August 25, 2022}} In seven games with the team, he batted .200 with one home run and four RBIs. On August 9, he was promoted to the Rocket City Trash Pandas of the Double-A Southern League.{{cite news |title=Angels' Zach Neto: Off to fast start in Double-A |url=https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/news/angels-zach-neto-off-to-fast-start-in-double-a/ |access-date=August 25, 2022 |work=CBSSports.com |publisher=Paramount Global |date=August 2022}} During a re-rank of the MLB.com Angels top 30 prospect list in mid-August, Neto was listed as the second-best prospect in the team's farm system, only behind trade deadline acquisition Logan O'Hoppe.{{cite news |last1=Bollinger |first1=Rhett |title=Here's the Angels' new Top 30 Prospects list |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/angels-top-30-prospects-2022-midseason-rerank |access-date=October 11, 2022 |work=MLB.com |publisher=MLB Advanced Media |date=August 16, 2022}} Over 30 games with Rocket City, he batted .320 with four home runs and 23 RBIs. Between the two teams, he finished the 2022 season batting .299 with five home runs, 27 RBIs, and five stolen bases in 37 games.

Neto returned to Rocket City to open the 2023 season.{{Cite web|url=https://www.mlb.com/news/where-angels-top-prospects-are-starting-2023-season|title=Where the Angels' Top 30 prospects are starting the season|website=MLB.com}} On April 15, 2023, Neto was selected to the 40-man roster and promoted to the major leagues for the first time, making him the first member of the 2022 MLB draft class to debut.{{Cite web|url=https://www.mlb.com/news/angels-prospect-zach-neto-called-up|title=Angels call up No. 2 prospect Neto|website=MLB.com}} A day later, Neto picked up his first hit, a single into left field, in which he also eventually scored on.{{cite web | last=Bollinger | first=Rhett | title=Zach Neto first career Major League hit | website=MLB.com | date=April 17, 2023 | url=https://www.mlb.com/news/zach-neto-first-career-major-league-hit | access-date=September 24, 2024}} Neto was hit by a pitch seven times in his first 15 major league games, an MLB modern era record.{{efn|The "modern era" of Major League Baseball is generally defined as beginning in 1901.{{cite news |last1=Stilwell |first1=Jonathan |title=The Modern Deadball Era's Top Ten Pitchers (1901- 1923) |url=https://bleacherreport.com/articles/112514-the-modern-deadball-eras-top-ten-pitchers-1901-1923 |access-date=May 8, 2023 |work=Bleacher Report |date=January 18, 2009}}}}{{cite news |last1=Fletcher |first1=Jeff |title=Angels' Zach Neto says he's happy to accept pain for a free base |url=https://www.ocregister.com/2023/04/30/angels-rookie-zach-neto-says-hes-happy-to-accept-pain-for-a-free-base/ |access-date=May 8, 2023 |work=Orange County Register |publisher=Southern California News Group |date=April 30, 2023 |url-access=limited}} On May 9, he hit his first major league home run, a solo shot off Houston Astros pitcher Framber Valdez.{{cite news |title=Angels' Zach Neto: Cranks first career homer |url=https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/news/angels-zach-neto-cranks-first-career-homer/ |access-date=May 15, 2023 |work=CBSSports.com |publisher=Paramount Global |date=May 10, 2023}} On June 14, Neto was sidelined after describing the feeling of a cramp during pregame warmups. The next day, he was placed on the injured list with an oblique strain.{{cite news |last1=Fletcher |first1=Jeff |title=Angels place shortstop Zach Neto on injured list with a strained oblique |url=https://www.ocregister.com/2023/06/15/angels-place-shortstop-zach-neto-on-injured-list-with-a-strained-oblique/ |access-date=June 21, 2023 |work=Orange County Register |publisher=Southern California News Group |date=June 15, 2023 |url-access=limited}}

Neto played in 155 games for the Angels in 2024, slashing .249/.318/.443 with 23 home runs, 77 RBI, and 30 stolen bases. On November 8, 2024, it was announced that Neto had undergone shoulder surgery to repair an injury he had suffered in the final week of the season.{{Cite web|title=Zach Neto Could Miss Start Of 2025 Season After Undergoing Shoulder Surgery|url=https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/11/zach-neto-could-miss-start-of-2025-season-after-undergoing-shoulder-surgery.html|access-date=November 8, 2024|website=mlbtraderumors.com|language=en}}