Angels Lineup vs Red Sox: Zach Neto Out With Injury, Christian Moore Skyrockets to Top

Zach Neto is not in Wednesday's lineup for the Los Angeles Angels, while rookie Christian Moore has catapulted himself to the No. 2 spot in his absence, as he has recently been batting last in the order.

Neto was pulled early from Tuesday's game against the Boston Red Sox as interim manager Ray Montgomery claimed after the game that the star shortstop's shoulder was hurt after sliding into second base.

Neto remained in the eventual victory until a throwing error to first base would be his final play of the evening. The shortstop is apparently available, however, and will be getting an MRI on his shoulder Wednesday, per The Athletic's Sam Blum.

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Zach Neto (shoulder) is not playing today, but he’s listed as available.

He said he was getting an MRI today on his shoulder after re-injuring it yesterday on a slide.
— Sam Blum (@SamBlum3) June 25, 2025

"When he made that throw, we just didn't like the way it looked, so we took him out for cautionary (reasons)," Montgomery said. "We weren't going to let him go back out there after that."

The star shortstop spoke on his how he should've removed himself from the game earlier due to the history with his shoulder.

"I wasn't feeling good (and) probably should have taken myself out of the game," Neto said. "But being the competitor that I am, I wanted to try to gut it out. There's a time and place to be a hero, and there's a time and place to get out of the game, and that was probably the time to get out of the game. ... It's feeling good (now). I mean, it's not feeling great, but we're going to see how I feel tomorrow morning, and hopefully I come feeling great."

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Neto injured his shoulder last September and was forced to undergo surgery. After an offseason of recovery, he started his 2025 campaign about three weeks late, but has still been shining once again.

After being far-and-away the most productive member of the Halos last season, Neto is continuing his incredible production, hitting .278/.321/.494 with a .814 OPS.

"There's always a concern with it being the shoulder I just had my surgery on, but I'm going to be hopeful," Neto said.

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