Zach Neto injury could turn Angels’ season from bad to worse

For a brief moment on Saturday, the Los Angeles Angels had everything going their way. A big game from Wade Meckler (what a strange timeline) and solid pitching gave the Angels a healthy lead against the Rays, one of MLB's best teams to this point. It should have been a cause for celebration to look as good as they did against an elite squad, but Zach Neto's injury changed the tone immediately.

After a challenging start to the 2026 season, Neto was finally showing signs of breaking out of his funk. Over his last seven games, Neto had 1.278 OPS with two homers, and the quality of at-bats had been steadily improving, despite the fact that there were a fair number of strikeouts still mixed in there.

Unfortunately, after a play at the plate where Neto slid in, and the pitcher fielding the throw home collided with him, Neto was on the ground for a while. He did eventually leave the field under his own power, but was pulled from the game immediately after.

Zach Neto forced to leave game against Rays early after collision at home plate

Well, this is not ideal whatsoever. In the immediate aftermath, it looked like Neto got hit pretty good in his back and in the back of his head by the charging pitcher. Hopefully, removing Neto is just precautionary because he got his bell rung, but it would be shocking at all if he had concussion symptoms and/or something else happen in the collision that could keep him out for a bit.

That...is not what the Angels need at all. While still uneven, LA seemed to have stabilized over the last couple of weeks, and Neto's play was an important part of that. Any injury to Neto would also create big-time problems for the entire left side of the Angels' infield that has already seen massive struggles at third base.

As of the middle of the ninth inning, no updates have been given on Neto's status, but the most likely outcome will be that he is still undergoing testing. That makes sense given how late in the game the collision happened, but that will do little to quiet Angels fans' concerns.

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