Even though their impact may not be reflected in the team’s record, the Angels’ youthful core group of players is giving fans plenty to cheer about. A number of players from the major and minor league rosters are making their presence known throughout the sport, despite the fact that the Angels are a few games below.500. Logan O’Hoppe is cementing himself as one of the best catchers in the sport, José Soriano is justifying the Angels’ belief that he can be their no. 2 starter, and Christian Moore is turning his season around after a poor start.
But in addition to being the cornerstone of the Angels, Zach Neto is hitting with such force that he may have the most pop of any shortstop in the league. Even though he plays for a lowly team, national writers and reporters should continue to highlight Neto as one of the league’s top shortstops because of the way he is currently swinging the bat.
The Angels might have the best power hitting shortstop in baseball right now
Neto’s power hitting stats rank among the highest in the league in many of the 34 shortstops who have played 16 or more games this season (that figure effectively excludes players like Nicky Lopez and Kevin Newman). First, let’s talk about exit velocity: The league’s top exit velocity is 94.7 mph, which is second only to Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson. Only Henderson outperforms Neto in that statistic, with more than half of his balls in play being hit at speeds of 95 mph or more.
Let’s move on to the rate statistics now. Among those 34 shortstops, Neto’s.512 SLG is fourth, while his.845 OPS ranks sixth. With a score of.233, he leads all of those shortstops in isolated power (ISO). Among those shortstops, Neto has the highest ratings at 5.4% HR% and 17.20 AB per HR, second only to Texas’ Corey Seager’s 5.6%. Neto is one of 13 shortstops who have hit five or more home runs this season.Mookie Betts, Trevor Story, Elly De La Cruz, Seager, Anthony Volpe, and five other shortstops have six home runs each, while Francisco Lindor of New York and Dansby Swanson of Chicago have nine. With 93 plate appearances, Neto has by far the fewest among the 13 shortstops (Seager has 107 PAs).
It’s reasonable to conclude that Neto may be the greatest shortstop at putting balls in seats at the moment based on his 22-game performance and exit data. Although his K% and BB% are low, he may have a boom-or-bust approach at the plate, but he is solidifying his place among the sport’s top performers.
