Zach Neto projection is great news for Angels originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim consistently are one of the most disappointing teams in MLB.

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One player who has been a bright spot in recent years is the shortstop Zach Neto, and things are looking up.

MLB.com released player projections for each team’s top player, part of a new article on Thursday. For the Angels, Neto gets that nod as having the top projected Wins Above Replacement.

Their system predicts Neto to have 4.3 WAR. And if he reaches that mark, it’d be a career best.

For the Angels to improve, it certainly wouldn’t hurt if Neto had his best season of his career.

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“Neto has unquestionably been the Angels’ top player each of the last two seasons, leading the club with 3.5 WAR in 2024 and 3.1 WAR last season,” MLB.com writes. “Neto has been well above average with the bat (112 OPS+ in 2024, 117 OPS+ in ‘25), has played solid defense at shortstop and has been a member of the 20-20 club in each season. The projections see the young shortstop taking another step forward, which makes sense since Neto was worth 3.1 WAR in 128 games in ’25.”

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Neto has encountered injuries here and there in his career, and that would be the one thing he could potentially improve upon to make himself more reliable for the Angels.

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L.A. would certainly like to get Mike Trout back to the playoffs if possible. Trout is moving back to centerfield from right field this season, although it remains to be seen how well that’ll go.

The reality is that while Trout is still the Angels’ leader, he’s had a tough time being their best statistical player lately. Neto will have to continue to be at his best to give the Angels a real chance this season.

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