‘Things are working out’: Miami native Zach Neto thriving with Los Angeles Angels

Sometimes, Zach Neto still has to remind himself that this is really happening.

Yes, he’s actually a Major League Baseball player... less than one year after being drafted in the first round ... after three years at Campbell following a stellar high school career at Miami Coral Park but being underrated and overlooked by big-name programs.

Yes, this is actually happening.

“I didn’t think I would be here right now,” Neto said, “but everything happens for a reason.”

Neto, at just 22 years old, is the starting shortstop for the Los Angeles Angels, sharing a clubhouse with superstars Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. He was the first player from the 2022 MLB Draft class to be called up and there are no signs of him going back down to the minor leagues any time soon as the Angels plan to give him an extended look to see if he will be part of their long-term core.

“I’m glad to be here,” Neto said. “I’m glad to be part of an organization that wants me and wants to see my development. This is a decision they made and I’m just coming out here to keep playing the way I am and just keep doing what I’m doing like I always have. Things are working out.”

Indeed they are.

Entering Sunday’s series finale between the Angels and his hometown Miami Marlins, Neto is hitting .252 with a .716 on-base-plus-slugging mark through his first 39 MLB games. He has three home runs, nine doubles, 17 RBI and 15 runs scored. Defensively, he has committed just two errors at shortstop while being credited with three defensive runs saved by Fangraphs. He has nine multi-hit games and on Wednesday came a triple shy of hitting for the cycle.

“I’m getting more comfortable every day,” Neto said.

And while Neto admits the instant results following the call-up wasn’t expected, the underlying potential had always been there.

Go back to his high school days at Coral Park, where he had a career .407 batting average and was a three-time All-District player.

“From the moment he got to my program, he always hit,” said Juan “Butch” Carnicero, who coached Neto at Coral Park and is now the athletic director at Mater Academy. “He was a very good athlete. He’s what I call a baseball hound where he just had a thirst for knowledge. He was always the first one at practice. So that plus his natural athletic ability — that’s why he’s able to do what he’s doing.”

It wasn’t, however, enough to get scouts or college programs to overlook his size (Neto was just 6-0 and 175 pounds his senior year) or his high leg kick he uses while batting.

Neto ultimately wound up signing at Campbell University in North Carolina.

His freshman year was halted by the COVID-19 pandemic. After that, all he did there was hit above .400 each of the next two years and rack up 108 RBI, 27 home runs, 40 doubles, five triples and 115 runs scored over 97 games en route to being named the Big South Conference Player of the Year both seasons.

“That’s when I think I said ‘OK, I do belong here,’” Neto said. “My last year of college, it definitely hit home.”

He soared up draft boards as a result. The Angels drafted him 13th overall, with Angels scouting director Tim McIlvaine telling reporters after the draft “there’s just a lot to like about him,” from his athleticism up the middle to his ability to handle the strike zone.

As for how quickly the Angels thought he would move up the system?

“He’s going to dictate his own pace as he gets out there and he starts to figure out pro ball,” McIlvaine said. “But I think once he gets in, he’s going to take off and be OK.”

That was a good assumption, considering Neto played just 44 minor-league games before making his MLB debut on April 15 — just nine months after being drafted.

Neto, who comes from a working-class, Cuban-American, sports-loving family, still remembers his roots. He flashes “305” with his hands in his pre-recorded player introduction for the starting lineup at Angels home games. He has Daddy Yankee and Pitbull’s “Hot” as his walk-up music.

And he still keeps in touch with Carnicero, the coach who Neto said “trusted me when I was nobody and made me the player I am today.”

Shortly after Neto was called up, Carnicero sent his former player a text message.

“Be patient,” Carnicero said, “and know that you belong.”

An early reminder for Neto that, yes, this is really happening.

“Here I am today, still doing what I’m doing,” Neto said. “It’s been a roller coaster, but finally at the top — and I’m trying to stay there.”