Former Angels Slugger Calls Out Zach Neto’s Lack of Approach, Demeanor

'It looks like somebody stole (Neto's) lunch money,' the Anaheim native said.

Angels infielder Zach Neto (9) drops his bat after hitting a solo home run against Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Jack Dreyer (not pictured) during the ninth inning at Dodger Stadium on June 6, 2026. | William Liang-Imagn Images

In the Angels' June 12 game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Zach Neto appeared to believe he had hit into a routine pop-up behind first base.

The Rays' first baseman, Jonathan Aranda, drifted back before dropping the ball near the foul line. Neto wound up on first base with a single, but the ball hung up in the air long enough to give the 25-year-old a chance at second base if he had hustled out of the batter's box.

Now Zach Neto costs himself an extra base by not hustling out of the box pic.twitter.com/fifcSfJh7D

— BTH (@BeyondTheHalo) June 13, 2026

Considering Neto had struck out in his first four plate appearances of the game, the optics looked even worse.

Among the fans who noticed: former Angels slugger Mark Trumbo.

“Wasn’t a great swing," Trumbo observed on Halo Territory. "I think that’s what he was reacting to for the most part. Not much of an effort out of the box. He actually got a hit on it. He’s been very good about salvaging something in these games where the beginning really is (bad)."

"I don’t see any approach at all at the plate right now," says @Mtrumbo44 of Zach Neto.

"Pure hacking. No fight with two strikes. A lot of weird swing, corkscrew, off-balance." pic.twitter.com/Lvkxcq0jA9

— HaloTerritory (@HaloTerritory) June 15, 2026

Trumbo wasn't done laying into the talented but slumping shortstop.

"I get asked a lot … ‘what’s going on with this guy? What’s the deal?’ To be honest, I don’t have a clue what the deal is," Trumbo said of Neto. "First pitch of the bottom of the first inning … he hacks at a ball a foot and a half outside the box. Pretty much explains a lot of it."

“I don’t see any approach at all at the plate right now," Trumbo said. "Pure hacking. No fight with two strikes. A lot of weird swings, corkscrew, off-balance. He seems to be entirely trying to do one thing and one thing only — that’s the long ball. He’s pimping balls that don’t go out of the ballpark. He’s pimping balls that go out by a mere foot.”

Trumbo's observation about Neto's plate discipline is backed up by the numbers. He's swinging more in general this season (50.0 percent through Monday, compared to 48.5 percent in his career), not just on pitches out of the zone (33.2% this season, 30.1% career).

The problem is that Neto is making less contact on pitches outside of the zone (46.1% in 2026, 50.6% career), not more. Statcast data suggests this is a direct result of Neto's propensity to chase pitches that have no chance of being called a strike. His chase percentage is up to 35% this season from 25% last year.

The league average chase rate this year is 25.7%. In effect, Neto is encouraging pitchers to give him nothing to hit inside the strike zone, knowing he will swing at balls. His results — a .220/.324/.419 slash line — suggest pitchers will continue to take this approach until Neto stops chasing.

The data says nothing about Neto's demeanor on the field. Trumbo isn't impressed with that, either.

“It looks like somebody stole his lunch money," Trumbo said. "Really kind of pouting out there.”

In a sense, opposing pitchers are stealing Neto's lunch money. So far, they're getting away with it.