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Angels’ Zach Neto on Failures: ‘I Have to Be The Bigger Person’

Maren Angus-Coombs

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Los Angeles Angels shortstop Zach Neto was at an extremely low point in his season nearly a week ago.

The frustration was so obvious, manager Ron Washington called him out just by watching him swing.

“He went up there and almost broke his ankle twisting himself into the ground,” Washington said. “You can’t do that. You gotta stay under control.”

On Sunday, Neto turned things around in a hurry and snapped out of his funk by slugging two homers and a go-ahead three-run double, on his way to a six-RBI game.

This has all been part of Neto's development during his first full major league season. He has displayed the potential to become one of the top shortstops in the game, but there have also been challenging moments that highlight the areas where he still needs to improve.

One of those is accepting is failure and learning from it.

“I’ve always grown up having a lot of success,” Neto told Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. “Finally having some success and failure, I think it’s a mix of emotions for me. It’s something I never had to deal with before. But now, here at the biggest stage, where it all counts and all eyes are on me, I think that’s where I have to be the bigger person and be able to overcome all that, and be the better man.”

With just six games remaining in the season, Neto is batting .248 with 23 home runs, surpassing Jim Fregosi’s franchise record for homers by a shortstop. He has also recorded 33 doubles, 30 stolen bases, and an OPS of .761, which is above the major league average of .730 for shortstops.

Neto stands out as one of only nine shortstops in the league to hit at least 20 home runs and one of four to reach 30 stolen bases.

“That’s pretty good for going through it for the first time,” Washington said. “But in his mind, he’s better than that. And he should be.”

This season, Neto has stayed healthy, playing in 152 of the Angels' 156 games and starting 149. Washington believes Neto will learn from his mistakes this year, build on his strengths, and become an even better player.

Neto ageed.

“I look at this year as a stepping stone,” he said. “It didn’t start off the way I wanted. Then I was able to pick it up and be a little consistent there. Just grinding it out. It’s the most games I’ve ever played in my life, times two. It’s something new to me. I’m going to go into the offseason and kind of debrief, look at what I could do better, what I can consistently keep going. I think that’s the biggest thing.”

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Maren Angus-Coombs
MAREN ANGUS-COOMBS

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