ANAHEIM — Angels shortstop Zach Neto was not in the starting lineup for the second consecutive game as he continues to deal with right shoulder soreness.
Interim manager Ray Montgomery had Kevin Newman at shortstop on Friday, batting ninth.
Neto left Tuesday night’s game against the Boston Red Sox in the ninth inning with the shoulder injury, which occurred on a dive into second base on a stolen base attempt. He was the potential game-winning run in a tie game with Mike Trout at the plate.
The Angels already said the injury is not considered serious and have backed up that sentiment by not putting their leadoff man on the injured list. Neto himself said Friday that he feels like he can contribute.
“It’s doing good,” Neto said. “I’m ready to roll. I had the off day (Thursday) and then today but if anything happens, or whatnot, hopefully I’ll be the first guy up but we’ll see whatever Ray has in store for me.”
Neto did pinch hit in the seventh inning Friday with the one out and the tying run on third base but struck out.
One concern is that Neto has yet to test the shoulder by throwing a baseball. But it has not affected his optimism.
“I felt way better than I did yesterday and yesterday I felt way better than I did the day before,” Neto said. “So moving in the right direction and having a clear mind knowing that nothing is structurally broken or anything. It’s definitely helping this process a lot.”
Without Neto on Wednesday afternoon against the Red Sox, Scott Kingery was at shortstop and went 1 for 3 with a walk out of the ninth spot.
BACK IN ACTION
Newman was activated from the paternity list during Thursday’s off day, while infielder/outfielder Kyren Paris was optioned back to Triple-A Salt Lake.
Newman was appearing in just his 36th game Friday, while making his 23rd start and just his ninth start at short. The 31-year-old entered batting just .195 but did have a pair of multi-hit games over his previous 10 contests.
Paris, 23, was only used as a defensive replacement for two innings in Tuesday’s victory over the Red Sox after he was recalled Monday to replace Newman on the roster. Paris entered that game and played center field when Neto departed with his injury.
Paris got off to a fast start with five home runs and a .440 batting average over the first 10 games of the season, then batted .129 with one home run over the next 33 games until he was optioned.
STILL WAITING
Trout said he still has not started working out in the outfield since returning from a bone bruise in his left knee on May 30 and has put his focus on being a designated hitter.
“Maybe not necessarily taking fly balls and ground balls, but I think he’s building towards the program,” Montgomery said. “His focus right now is just staying healthy, DH and helping us out the way that we’ve talked about.”
Trout was moved to right field when the season started, with Jorge Soler then taking over in right until going on the injured list retroactive to June 18 with lower back inflammation.
Angels right fielders entered Friday’s game 28th in the major leagues with a .193 batting average and 26th with a .662 OPS. But they were tied for seventh with 15 home runs.
In 25 games at DH since returning from his injury, Trout went into Friday’s game with a .291 batting average, .833 OPS, three home runs and 11 RBIs. He was batting just .179 with nine home runs in 29 games when he went on the IL.
Trout was the DH for the 32nd time on Friday. His previous high as a DH in any season was 15 games in 2018.
UP NEXT
Nationals (RHP Michael Soroka, 3-5, 5.06 ERA) at Angels (RHP Kyle Hendricks, 5-6, 4.83 ERA), Saturday, 6:38 p.m., FDSN West, 830 AM