{"id":370863,"date":"2026-07-13T06:31:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T06:31:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/370863\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T06:31:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T06:31:12","slug":"angels-zach-neto-finding-more-success-hitting-the-other-way-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/370863\/","title":{"rendered":"Angels\u2019 Zach Neto finding more success hitting the other way \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

MINNEAPOLIS \u2014 As he watched Zach Neto\u2019s evolution this season<\/a>, Kurt Suzuki made a joke to his shortstop the other day.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou keep doing this, you might be a pretty good player,\u201d Suzuki, and Angels manager, quipped.<\/p>\n

Neto has been hitting for power all season. A few weeks ago, though, there was a clear change in his approach at the plate.<\/a><\/p>\n

Prior to June 22, Neto pulled the ball 52% of the time he put it in play, and he only went to the opposite field 19% of the time. Since then, the pull rate has gone down to 40% and the opposite field rate up to 38%.<\/p>\n

Neto\u2019s average before was .225, with a 33% strikeout rate. Since June 23, he\u2019s hit .295 with a 24% strikeout rate.<\/p>\n

Neto downplayed any significant transformation.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust seeing the ball,\u201d he said. \u201cI think that\u2019s the biggest thing. Just seeing the ball and hitting it, wherever the ball goes. Using the whole field is always good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neto had singles to right field on Friday and Saturday, something he did rarely in the first three months of the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s learning,\u201d Suzuki said.<\/p>\n

Suzuki pointed out that the homers haven\u2019t been reduced by improving his use of the whole field.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust seeing the ball better and having more quality at-bats,\u201d Suzuki said. \u201cIt\u2019s been fun to watch, really.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heading into the final game before the All-Star break, Neto is hitting .237 with a .787 OPS. He has 19 homers. He\u2019s on pace to shatter last season\u2019s career-high 26 homers. His OPS is just about the same as last year (.793). Although his strikeout rate is up<\/a> and his average is down, his walk rate is up. He\u2019s already drawn more walks (44) than he did all of last year (33).<\/p>\n

On defense, his 14 errors are the second most in the majors. He\u2019s only made one error since June 13. Neto also has 12 stolen bases, but he\u2019s been caught eight times.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been ups and downs,\u201d Neto said. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t mind my strikeouts being a little more down. Overall, I feel like it\u2019s been a pretty healthy first half. That\u2019s the biggest part I could say. I\u2019m just thankful that my body is holding up.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe team is where we\u2019re at. We still have a positive mindset, which is great. The numbers show for themselves. I feel like we have a way better club in the clubhouse right now. We\u2019re playing tough ball games. It\u2019s unfortunate that our record is the way it is, but I feel like we\u2019re playing really good baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n

NOTES<\/p>\n

Right-hander Ben Joyce (shoulder surgery) pitched a scoreless inning, with three strikeouts, on Saturday night in the Arizona Complex League. Joyce averaged 101 mph with his fastball. It was Joyce\u2019s second minor league outing since resuming his rehab last month.<\/a> Suzuki said they aren\u2019t sure if his next outing will be in Arizona or if he\u2019ll move to a full-season affiliate. \u201cObviously we\u2019re going to take our time with him and make sure he\u2019s fully right before he comes back, but all the reports that we\u2019re getting have been great,\u201d Suzuki said. \u2026<\/p>\n

Catcher Travis d\u2019Arnaud (plantar fasciitis) and infielder Adam Frazier (elbow) are both on track toward rehab assignments shortly after the All-Star break, Suzuki said. \u2026<\/p>\n

The Angels are not sure how they\u2019re going to align the rotation after the All-Star break, Suzuki said. \u2026<\/p>\n

Outfield prospect Nelson Rada went 0 for 3 in the Futures Game, but he stole a base and scored a run. Right-hander Tyler Bremner retired the only hitter he faced<\/a>, the last batter of the game.<\/p>\n

UP NEXT<\/p>\n

Tigers (TBD) at Angels (TBD), Friday, 6:38 p.m., ABTV, 830 AM<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MINNEAPOLIS \u2014 As he watched Zach Neto\u2019s evolution this season, Kurt Suzuki made a joke to his shortstop…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":370864,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[150,152,151,19950,7677,154],"class_list":["post-370863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arlington","tag-arlington","tag-arlington-headlines","tag-arlington-news","tag-los-angeles-angels","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370863"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370863\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}