3 bold Angels' predictions for the 2025 season at the start of spring training

3. Zach Neto will become the Angels' best player

For years, Mike Trout has been the Angels' undisputed best player, despite recent injury woes and a couple of seasons sharing the spotlight with Shohei Ohtani. That narrative has persisted, and for good reason.

However, this year, he will be usurped as the universally recognized "best player" on the team by up-and-coming star, Zach Neto. Despite seemingly positive developments regarding his recovery from offseason shoulder surgery, Neto likely won't be ready by Opening Day, and without a clear timeline, it's hard to say he'll be the team leader in any counting stat or by total WAR accumulation.

Instead, we mean he will become the team's best player by the measure of impact he makes in the games he plays.

Neto, 24, made his debut in 2023 playing in 84 games, and then took a massive leap forward in 2024 his first season as a full-time big leaguer. Considering his age, potential, and overwhelming talent, it's likely he will take another significant step forward in 2025.

Taking a deeper look, Neto improved his offensive production from an 88 wRC+ in 2023 to a 114 mark in 2024, which means he was 26% better offensively from one year to the next. While it's no guarantee, a similar offensive leap this season would put him at a 140 wRC+, which would've tied Texas' star Corey Seager for 14th in baseball last year and been just one point below Dodger's phenom Mookie Betts.

It wasn't just with the bat that he improved last season, either. In 2023 he recorded 2 defensive runs saved over 84 games putting him on pace for about 4 over the course of a full season. Last year, he elevated his glove work to post 11 DRS in 155 games.

Not all young players have a linear progression in their development, and not all improvements are uniform from one year to the next. However, it can not be understated just how massive Neto's improvements were from 2023 to 2024, which gives optimism that he will again level up in 2025.

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