Angels pressed right button with Zach Neto, but long-term fix requires bigger change

Getting swept by the Cleveland Guardians was hardly what the doctor ordered for the reeling Los Angeles Angels, but there was one key development during the series finale that might have been more important than any individual win or loss: Zach Neto might be getting his mojo back.

That two-run homer was part of Neto's first multi-hit effort in over a week, and it coincided with a significant change to Kurt Suzuki's lineup. The first-year skipper moved his star shortstop out of the leadoff spot and into the No. 6 hole, which he described as a means to "take pressure off" the shoulders of Neto.

Heading into Sunday's clash with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the 25-year-old is sitting on a .224/.330/.408 batting line, which has been severely dragged down by an 11-for-59 run over his past 15 games. Neto's 107 wRC+ would be his worst since his rookie campaign in 2023 if it holds up.

Was that breakout performance against the Guardians a sign of things to come, or a mere morsel of hope in a lost season?

Zach Neto's struggles go far deeper than Angels' fans fear

Despite a career-best 12.8% walk rate, Neto remains as undisciplined as ever at the plate working with chase, whiff, and strikeout rate that all exceed 30%. The bigger issue is that he's lost a lot of the exit velocity and contact quality gains he made a year ago.

Reasons for this are plentiful. After seemingly solving right-handed pitchers in 2025, he's back to his old habits this season, with a .208 batting average and 33.1% strikeout rate when he doesn't have the platoon advantage.

Likewise, his bat speed is way down, dropping 1.3 miles per hour from last year to 70.1 mph this year. That may be attributable to the wrist injury he suffered in spring training, though the Angels claimed it was just a minor scrape at the time. Either way, mid-20s stars don't just lose swing speed overnight. Something is causing this, injury related or not.

It's all of those factors that set the stage for the real red flag in Neto's 2026 performance: He is getting absolutely manhandled by off-speed pitches. That's not hyperbole; he is batting and slugging just .111 against the slow stuff, which is a huge issue considering he slugged .388 against such pitches a year ago.

Off-speed offerings have always been the bane of his career, but this is a new low for him. He's still hitting fastballs well (.395 wOBA), but it's possible that his slowdown in swing speed has forced him into selling out more for those pitches, hence why he hasn't been able to adjust when opposing pitchers snap off a changeup.

Could a stint on the injured list fix this? What about a change to his positioning in the batter's box? No matter what, the Angels have to try something, because Neto's problems go far deeper than the pressures of being a leadoff hitter.

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