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Angels’ shortstop Zach Neto ‘grateful’ that he avoids serious injury after slide

March 15, 2026

TEMPE, Ariz. — Zach Neto was thankful that he ended up with only what amounted to a painful learning experience.

The Angels shortstop suffered a mild sprain of his left hand on a head-first slide into home during Saturday’s game. Seeing his reaction on the field left many fearful that Neto had gotten seriously injured.

But on Sunday, he said the X-rays were negative, and he planned to only miss a few days.

“I feel good,” Neto said. “Definitely a learning experience for me. Don’t slide head-first in spring training. Maybe get a bigger lead next time at first base. I caused this.”

Neto was waved around to try to score from first on a one-out double down the left-field line in the sixth inning of Saturday’s game. He was thrown out on a close play.

“In a regular game, I would want him to send me right there,” Neto said.

Manager Kurt Suzuki also said on Saturday he had no problem with the decision to go, because the Angels have been emphasizing taking the extra base this spring.

On Sunday, Neto took it all upon himself. He was practically apologetic, especially considering he knew the risks with that kind of play.

Neto suffered a right shoulder injury on a head-first slide at the end of the 2024 season, leading to surgery that cost him the first few weeks of last season. Later that summer, he missed a few more days when he again hurt his shoulder on a head-first slide.

After that, Neto vowed to slide feet first. All of his previous slides this spring were feet-first.

“Honestly, it was just like an instinctive thing,” Neto said. “I’m starting to get way more comfortable sliding feet-first, as you could tell on the stolen bases and stuff. It was just one of those things where it wasn’t even like a thought in my head. It just naturally happened. I’m just thankful nothing bad really happened.

“You’re living and learning and I definitely learned for sure. I’m just thankful I dodged a bullet here. Just excited that it wasn’t anything crazy and not going to sideline me for too long.”

Suzuki stopped short of saying they would insist on Neto sliding feet-first at all times, although they would encourage it.

“They were working on their feet-first slide, but at the end of the day, I don’t want to take away something that he’s been doing his whole life, until he’s comfortable with the other thing,” Suzuki said. “I just want him to play the game. Play the game hard. Injuries are a part of the game and if it happens, it happens. Knock on wood, it’s not frequent, but you can’t really protect from it.”

Suzuki said if a player gets caught in between when trying to decide to go head-first or feet-first, that can be when “you really get hurt.”

PITCHING PLAN

Left-hander Yusei Kikuchi was expected to travel back to Arizona on Sunday, after Japan was eliminated from the World Baseball Classic on Saturday.

Kikuchi ended up pitching just one inning in relief in the quarterfinal loss, instead of getting a full second start with Japan. He pitched three innings in his previous start. The Angels will need to come up with a plan to make sure he’s ready for the season.

“Once he gets here, we’ll see how he feels and go over with (pitching coach Mike) Maddux the next steps for him,” Suzuki said.

The Angels have right-hander George Klassen scheduled to start on Monday against the A’s. On Tuesday the Angels have a night game against the Chicago Cubs. Left-hander Reid Detmers is pitching in a minor league game earlier that day.

NOTES

Infielder Vaughn Grissom has not played since Wednesday, because of a left hand injury suffered on a check swing. Grissom said on Sunday that he’s “just playing it day to day, but feeling great. Improving.” …

The Angels’ game against the Kansas City Royals on Thursday has been moved from a day game to a 6:05 p.m. start because of an expected heat wave. The high temperature for Phoenix on Thursday is projected to be 104 degrees. The Angels are still playing their Spring Breakout Game on Thursday at 1:10 p.m. against the Cleveland Guardians. Each organization puts their top prospects on the field together for that series of games. …

The Angels are still trying to determine who will be their long man in the bullpen. Right-hander Sam Bachman and left-hander Brent Suter have each pitched two innings so far this spring, but Suzuki said that “ideally” the Angels would someone in the bullpen who could go three or more innings. A pitcher like that is necessary if the starter has a short outing. Whoever misses out on the No. 5 starter job could fill that role, but the Angels would probably be better off with those pitchers staying stretched out at Triple-A so they could be ready to start in the majors if needed. Left-hander Mitch Farris has shown himself to be capable of multi-inning outings, but he’s probably still behind several other starters, so he may be a good choice. He’s also already on the 40-man roster. …

Right-hander Caden Dana said he’s scheduled to face hitters one time more in live batting practice, and then he’s expecting to get in some kind of game. Dana was behind because he had mono earlier this spring.

Orange County Register

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Angels’ shortstop Zach Neto ‘grateful’ that he avoids serious injury after slide

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