Angels star Zach Neto's Opening Day in doubt after surprise surgery

On a random November day, about 40 days since Zach Neto's last regular season game, it was reported that the Angels' star shortstop required surgery on his right shoulder. Neto hurt his shoulder on September 26th while sliding into second base. He remained down on the field for a prolonged amount of time before being removed from the game by the team's head athletic trainer. Neto missed the final three games of the Angels' season because of the shoulder irritation, but insisted that everything was fine.

It was reported that he had surgery on November 6th, but the details of what kind of surgery he underwent and severity of the injury were not disclosed to the media. Perry Minasian said his status for Opening Day is in doubt, and his timeline for a return to the field is unknown as of now. “There’s a chance he misses some of the start of the season,” Minasian said. “… He’ll miss some time. How much time that is, we’ll see.” The particulars are vague, whether intentional or not, so it is unclear if the Angels are slow-playing his post-surgery timeline purely out of precaution or it was a severe injury to his throwing arm. When he can return to his normal baseball activities is also unknown, but Neto and the Angels will need detailed reports as to how the surgery went.

The Angels waited weeks to see if Neto's throwing shoulder would heal without surgery, but deemed his going under the knife necessary after a larger sample of evaluation. Neto was still experiencing issues, and will not have a normal offseason or Spring Training heading into 2025. The plan was a normal rehab route, but the inordinate amount of pain that persisted this far into the offseason caused the decision for his surgery.

The Angels' crowned jewel experiences an injury that could derail the team's 2025 season

After a fantastic 2024 campaign, the soon-to-be 24-year-old was being lauded as one of the top 10 shortstops in the entire league. Neto's arm strength is well above-average, and this is hopefully not a major blow to one of the most critical facets of his skillset.

All in all, this is a terrible setback for a team who is doing all it can to compete next season. If/when Neto misses regular season games, it puts the Angels at an even bigger competitive disadvantage. Minasian indicated that the Scott Kingery trade was partly due to his expectation of Neto's absence, and he will monitor their internal prospects and the free agency/trade market as potential fill-ins.

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