Will Zach Neto Build off of a strong 2025 season?

Fresh off of Neto's best season of his young career what will he do in 2026?

Mar 23, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Angels shortstop Zach Neto (9) hits a double during the fourth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images | Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

Fresh off his best season yet, Zach Neto starts off the new season relatively slow. Angels fans shouldn't be too worried as I believe they all know what Neto is capable of. Let's review some data and do a bit of future-gazing.

Strikeouts are the main negative with Neto, but the predictions might show some improvements.

What the predictions models indicate:

Baseball-Reference is indicating for a similar year of production For Zach Neto. They project 537 plate appearances with 22 home runs and a slash line of .255/.323/.454.

According to FanGraphs they are very high on Neto playing 150+ games with 665 plate appearances. That's just under a 100 more than Neto had last season. Their slash line is close to Baseball-References at .251/.325/.455

Mar 31, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout (27) celebrates his team’s victory over the Chicago Cubs with shortstop Zach Neto (9) at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images | Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images

Reasons for optimism:

Neto is only 25 years old , going into his 3rd full year in the MLB. His numbers have gone up every year since entering the league and if he is able to continue this trend, I think Angel fans should be pretty happy for what's in store for Neto's upcoming season and career. Since eliminating the high leg kick in his swing Neto has been more consistent in almost all aspects of his swing. In 2025 he showed this with his barrel percentage going up almost 4%.

Reasons for pessimism:

Statistically Neto does have some things to worry about. His walk rate is below average, only recording 33 walks last year, while striking out 149 times. The ratio is not great and not to mention that along with the below average walk rate. Neto has below average whiff percentage and chase percentage which is something that could be concerning.

Angels on SI Prediction:

I think Neto's slash line will be better than both Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs. With the increased barrel percentage I think Neto will hit .261. With that contact and hard hit increase, I think Neto will end the year with 28 home runs which is more than the Baseball-Reference prediction.

Baseball-Reference is predicting 28 doubles coming off a year where Neto had 29, so I'll go a little higher and say he'll have 33 doubles, and I'll also take the over for his SLG which was .454 last year. Since I think he'll have more doubles and more home runs this season.

Total prediction: .261/.328/.462 with 28 home runs and 33 doubles. Lets come back at the All Star Break and end of the year to see how I did.