Zach Neto left Saturday’s game against the San Francisco Giants after a pitch struck him on the hand, and the seeming injury could hardly come at a more inconvenient moment for the Los Angeles Angels shortstop already sitting at the center of trade deadline chatter.
Neto stayed in long enough to run the bases after getting hit, an encouraging sign the Angels desperately needed. The Angels were already down 9-1 in the seventh inning when the lineup thinned out further, with Neto, Mike Trout and Jo Adell all pulled off the field before the frame ended, according to MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger.
Zach Neto’s Hand Injury Status
GettyZach Neto #9 of the Los Angeles Angels.
“Zach Neto came out of the game after he was hit in the hand by a pitch. He did stay in to run immediately after it happened,” Orange County Register beat writer Jeff Fletcher wrote. Fletcher also noted the lopsided score as a factor, adding it was “also 9-1, so perhaps he was coming out anyway.”
No X-rays or further medical details had surfaced as of Saturday afternoon. Neto has already been through a scary collision this season. He needed days to shake off whiplash after crashing into the plate on a wild pitch back in May, an injury that briefly benched him.
Boston Red Sox Interest Complicates the Picture
The Boston Red Sox have renewed their pursuit of Neto ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline, Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic reported this week. Boston checked in on Neto last offseason without those talks advancing, but a lengthy win streak has vaulted the club into wild-card position and changed its way of viewing the trade deadline.
Boston’s middle infield has been decimated, with Trevor Story recovering from sports hernia surgery and Marcelo Mayer sidelined by a stress reaction in his left leg, leaving the Red Sox piecing things together with fill-in options. Neto would represent an obvious offensive upgrade, and evaluators believe his pull-side power would play well off Fenway Park’s Green Monster.
The Los Angeles Angels have grown more willing to entertain offers on controllable pieces like Neto, Reid Detmers and José Soriano as the front office looks to restock a thin farm system, though sources indicate top prospect Franklin Arias would be close to untouchable in any package heading to Anaheim. The Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays and Minnesota Twins have also been mentioned as teams that could pursue Neto if the Angels ultimately make him available.
On the field, Neto has been building a case for suitors regardless of Saturday’s scare. He entered the day hitting .238 with 19 home runs and 46 RBI, on pace for a third straight 20-20 season after totals of 23 homers and 30 steals in 2024 and 26 homers and 26 steals in 2025.
Neto is playing on a $4.15 million salary with three more arbitration seasons before free agency, making him a rare deadline commodity â an above-average everyday shortstop still years from the open market. Angels decision-makers will now weigh Sunday’s finale against the Giants with one eye on Neto’s hand and another on a trade market that could shape where he’s playing come August.
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