SEATTLE — As Angels shortstop Zach Neto looked back on a tumultuous season, he had trouble describing just what was going wrong for so much of it.
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“I just wasn’t feeling myself in the box,” he said Friday. “Plain and simple. Strikeouts were the strikeouts. That had a big effect on it. I just didn’t feel comfortable in the box. That’s about as good as I can say it.”
Neto, 25, is finishing a season that, by most measures, was very good. He leads the team with a 4.9 WAR, according to Baseball-Reference. He went into Friday’s game against the Mariners with 26 home runs and 23 stolen bases, giving him a third straight 20/20 season. He has hit .238 with a .757 OPS. His OPS+ is 116, which means he was 16% better than the average major league hitter.
Between those numbers, though, are an Angels record 211 strikeouts. He also went through extended slumps through the middle of the season. His defense was sloppy at times, too.
Neto acknowledged last month that, for at least part of that time, the stress of the trade deadline was wearing on him, although he never explicitly used it as a reason for his struggles.
In August, he had a meeting with interim General Manager John Mozeliak, and that helped him turn his season around.
Neto hit .178 with a .485 OPS in the 22 games leading up to that Aug. 10 meeting, and since then he’s hit .278 with an .844 OPS.
“I was definitely frustrated going home every single night knowing that I didn’t feel like myself,” Neto said. “I feel like I let the team down. I feel like I was a very big part of what (former GM) Perry (Minasian) and (Kurt Suzuki) had going into this year, and I feel like I didn’t show that the first half of the season. It was a reality check right away and having Mo come in and just being able to sit down and talk with Zuk, talk with him and just kind of see what the problems were, how can I get back to myself.”
Neto said it wasn’t simply a matter of changing his attitude. He said he got closer to the plate. In August, he changed the way he held his bat when waiting for the pitch.
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“Once I felt comfortable in the box again, I don’t care if I get four hits or no hits, I just want to feel like myself,” Neto said.
Suzuki said Neto can be a better player from the lessons he learned this season.
“I think he learned a lot in the first half,” Suzuki said. “I think he learned about himself. I think he learned how hard this league is. I think as a younger player that has had a fair amount of success his first couple years, understanding you’re going to endure some tough times. I honestly feel, and I told him this, you’re going to be better for it.”
FITNESS CHECK
Suzuki said there will be a “conversation” with Moisés Ballesteros before the winter about his conditioning. Suzuki was quick to point out that he’s already gotten into better shape since the Angels acquired him at the trade deadline.
“You see him play first base, it looks pretty good,” Suzuki said. “You watch him run the bases, it’s not bad. Behind the plate, he’s pretty athletic. But I understand, long term, catching is hard on your body. He can get himself into some good shape. You don’t have to look like a bodybuilder in the game. It’s durability stuff.”
Suzuki said they will encourage Ballesteros to get in better shape, but they don’t want to overdo it “and then all of the sudden you become not yourself.”
Ballesteros, 22, is known mostly for his bat. He would be an everyday catcher in a perfect world, but there is doubt that he could handle the position the majority of the time. Otherwise, he is the DH or first baseman.
UP NEXT
Angels (RHP Ryan Johnson, 5-9, 4.93 ERA) at Mariners (LHP Kade Anderson, 2-2, 4.18 ERA), Saturday, 6:40 p.m., ABTV, 830 AM
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