The Angels might have the best power hitting shortstop in baseball right now

The Angels' young core group of players are giving fans plenty to be excited about, even if the team's record might not reflect their impact. Even though the Angels are several games below .500, several members of the major and minor league roster are making their presences known throughout the sport. Logan O'Hoppe is cementing himself as one of the best catchers in the sport, José Soriano is justifying the Angels' belief that he can be their no. 2 starter, and Christian Moore is turning his season around after a poor start.

However, not only is Zach Neto the foundational piece of the Angels, but he is hitting for so much power that he perhaps has the most pop out of any shortstop in the league. Despite playing for a lowly organization, national writers and reporters need to keep shining their lights on Neto as one of the best shortstops in the league given how he is swinging the bat right now.

The Angels might have the best power hitting shortstop in baseball right now

There are 34 shortstops in the league this year that have played 16 or more games (that number essentially cuts out guys like Nicky Lopez and Kevin Newman), and Neto's power hitting numbers are amongst the top of the league in many of them. Let's start with exit velocity: Neto's 94.7 MPH average exit velocity ranks second only to Baltimore's Gunnar Henderson as the best in the league. Over half of Neto's balls in play are hit 95+ MPH, and only Henderson has a higher percentage than Neto in that category.

Now, let's go to the rate stats. Neto's .512 SLG ranks fourth of those 34 shortstops, and his .845 OPS ranks sixth. Well, he leads all of those shortstops in isolated power (ISO) with a .233 mark. Neto has a 5.4% HR% and 17.20 AB per HR, which only trail Texas' Corey Seager's 5.6% for the highest marks amongst those shortstops. There are 13 shortstops with five or more home runs this year, including Neto. New York's Francisco Lindor and Chicago's Dansby Swanson have nine home runs, five shortstops have six -- Mookie Betts, Trevor Story, Elly De La Cruz, Seager, Anthony Volpe -- and six have five. Well, of those 13 shortstops, Neto's 93 plate appearances are by far the fewest of that group (Seager has 107 PAs).

Based on the exit data and results in his 22 games played, it's fair to say that Neto might be the best shortstop right now at putting balls in seats. He might have a boom-or-bust mentality at the plate (his K% and BB%s are poor), but he is cementing himself as one of the best players at a marquee position in the sport.

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