ARLINGTON, Texas — Zach Neto’s return to the Angels is seemingly imminent.
A day after Neto completed back-to-back games in the field for Triple-A Salt Lake, which was considered an important test, he was photographed at the Long Beach airport on Thursday afternoon.
Officially, the Angels have said nothing definitive about when Neto will be activated. Neto, who played in Sacramento on Wednesday night, was scheduled to simply be evaluated, which could be the purpose of his trip to Southern California. The Angels open a six-game homestand against the San Francisco Giants on Friday night.
“He’s chomping at the bit to get back,” Angels manager Ron Washington said Thursday. “He really wants to get back. And we want him back. We’ve been having good conversations about his workouts and what he’s feeling. And giving him some wisdom, more or less. He’s going to be at home when he gets back because we’ve already done our razzing with each other.”
Neto underwent shoulder surgery in November. He started getting at-bats in minor league games in late March, and he began playing at Triple-A on April 1. The maximum time for a rehab assignment is 20 days, so either way his time at Triple-A was going to be up after Sunday’s game.
Neto hit .286 with four home runs and a .988 OPS in 13 games at Triple-A. He played shortstop eight times and he was the DH in the other games. He did not play a full game at shortstop until Sunday, and then he did it again on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Angels have been closely scrutinizing everything Neto has done in the field because they want to ensure that his shoulder is ready for all of the throws that a game could present. He faced a particularly tough play on Wednesday night, when he went over the middle for a ground ball and had to make a spinning throw to first.
OUTFIELD CHECK
Torii Hunter, an Angels special assistant, has been watching from afar as Mike Trout has made the adjustment to right field and Jo Adell has adjusted to center field.
While it’s too early to draw any conclusions, the former Gold Glove outfielder said both have made progress, but there’s more to do.
“Trout is still learning it,” said Hunter, who lives in the Dallas area and has been at the ballpark this week. “He’s such a talent, such a great athlete in the outfield that it might not seem like it’s missing, but we still know that he still has some growth out there. This is the first time he’s been out there. He’s holding it down.”
Defensive metrics – which are not that relevant this early in the season – have shown that Trout is a negative-2 in terms of Outs Above Average so far in right field.
Adell has been neutral in terms of OAA in center field.
“Adell been holding it down the center as well,” Hunter said. “There’s always something to work on, always something to get better at, but he’s such a great athlete as well. He probably sees the ball better in center than he did in right field. He’s holding it down.”
NOTES
The Angels signed veteran right-hander Hector Neris to a minor-league deal. Neris, 35, didn’t have a full spring training after signing with the Atlanta Braves after camp opened. He pitched in two games with the Braves, allowing five runs in one inning. The Angels will work him out in Arizona and then send him to Triple-A to pitch. Neris had a 4.10 ERA in 62 major league games last season, with the Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros. …
Third baseman Yoán Moncada (sprained right thumb) has begun hitting from the right side, but he’s not ready to hit from the left side. Moncada has been doing defensive drills the entire time he’s been on the injured list. The Angels are still debating whether he’ll need a rehab assignment when he can finally swing from the left side. “There’s been conversations that he might have to go get some at-bats, and there’s also been conversations that his presence is important here,” Washington said. “He’ll figure it out. We haven’t locked in on what were planning on doing yet.”
UP NEXT
Giants (RHP Logan Webb, 2-0, 2.63 ERA) at Angels (LHP Tyler Anderson, 1-0, 2.87 ERA), Friday, 6:38 p.m., FDSN West, 830 AM