Just like Oz: Neto's unreal play earns him Hall of Fame-worthy comp

BALTIMORE -- Zach Neto turned, looked up and kept running. And running. And running.

When he finally turned back around, Neto was nearly halfway out onto the left-field grass at Oriole Park, the closest Angels player to the stadium’s tall left-field wall. This was unusual, since Neto plays shortstop.

“I’m not sure I’ve seen a guy go out that far on a popup,” manager Phil Nevin said. “I remember that one Ozzie [Smith] made, diving straight back. But as far as he went out, and as far as he had to go … you don’t see many guys catch popups like that.”

When you’re getting Ozzie Smith comparisons 30 games into your big league career, that’s pretty good. That’s the reality now for Neto, who turned Wednesday’s otherwise forgettable 3-1 loss to the Orioles into something of a mini defensive showcase.

The Angels’ No. 2 prospect (per MLB Pipeline) made two highlight-reel-worthy plays in a span of two innings, first sliding to his right to rob Joey Ortiz on a well-struck grounder in the sixth. Then the main event came in the seventh, when Neto ranged 104 feet (per Statcast) straight back to corral a legitimate outfield fly off the bat of Ryan Mountcastle. He somehow avoided a collision with left fielder Taylor Ward with an acrobatic over-the-shoulder catch that had his teammates and manager awestruck.

“That might have been one of the better plays I’ve seen a shortstop make, going back like that,” Nevin said. “Ever.”

Said Mike Trout: “I’ve never seen anything like that. We’ve had a lot of great shortstops here. To make a play that deep and avoid collision, that’s special. That’s fun to watch. He plays hard. He doesn’t give up on any play. That’s going to be on SportsCenter for sure.”

You might be thinking: I can’t remember many plays like that from a shortstop, either. Two reasons for that:

1. Similar batted balls are almost never caught by the shortstop

2. This season, at least, there basically haven’t been any

“I was trying to keep a nice, easy face, but I couldn’t stop smiling because I still don’t know how I made that play,” Neto said.

Let’s use data to help explain.

Per Statcast, the ball left Ryan Mountcastle’s bat with a 3 percent hit probability and a 99 percent catch probability for Ward. So it’s not like it was a surefire hit that Neto robbed; the ball is, in theory, supposed to be caught. The remarkable part is that Neto was there to catch it.

To do so, Neto needed to cover 104 feet and get 244 feet from home plate, while reaching a sprint speed of 26 feet per second. Ward needed to travel only 66 feet -- almost half! -- coming in on the ball, but initially broke back, got a late start and found himself sliding late to the spot. He also misplayed a shallow fly ball that turned into a Gunnar Henderson triple earlier in the game.

Luckily, Neto was there this time.

“They always tell us, 'Keep running until you hear something,'” Neto said. “I didn’t hear nothing, and just kept going for the ball and trying to make a play.”

It wasn’t the first time a shortstop used at least Neto’s speed (26 ft/sec) to cover at least 104 feet to record an out this season, but in all five other instances, the shortstop ran diagonal toward or past the foul line for balls they had the ideal angle on. Those plays are much more routine.

None of the other five plays involved having to basically run straight back to make the play, leaving Neto’s in a class of its own in 2023. The Angels infield defense as a whole is improved this year (-1 cumulative outs above average entering Wednesday, 18th in MLB) compared to 2022 (24th in MLB) in part due to Neto, who became the first player from the 2022 MLB Draft to reach the Majors when he debuted in mid-April.

“I’m doing pretty good, just holding my own,” Neto said. “I’m doing anything I can. Putting my body in places I’ve never put it before. Just trying to do anything I can to keep the ball in the infield, make plays and anything I can do to get outs for the pitchers.”