Sports

Shaikin: Zach Neto proving to be the king of the Angels' infield, and the team's future

Published

2 years ago

June 24, 2024

Shaikin: Zach Neto proving to be the king of the Angels' infield, and the team's future

Zach Neto has four tattoos on his left arm. The one that really catches your eye is the collage toward the bottom of the arm, with a lion roaring atop its kingdom.

“This,” Neto said, pointing to the tattoo, “is just my journey.”

The Angels’ shortstop is a son of Miami, so the lion overlooks Miami Beach. The date of his major league debut is part of the tattoo, as is the Major League Baseball logo.

“For me finally making it,” he said.

The camel represents his college mascot. And the lion?

“I always see myself as a lion,” he said. “King of the jungle.”

For an Angels team that has been lost in the wilderness for a decade, Neto is anchoring himself as king of the infield.

Neto, 23, is in his second major league season, two years removed from his last game for the Fighting Camels of Campbell University. Of the 39 players selected in the first round of the 2022 draft, three have made the majors. One is back in the minors, one is on the injured list, and neither one has a positive WAR.

And then there is Neto, one among a pride of prospects trying to establish themselves as the Angels use this season to determine which young players can help them return to glory.

“No, no, no, no,” Angels manager Ron Washington said. “He has established himself.”

The Angels’ bummer summer could get worse, if they trade veterans — including pitcher Tyler Anderson, their only healthy and effective starter, and outfielder Taylor Ward, their No. 3 batter — for desperately needed prospects.

But that would be in the service of their future, in which they hope to build around Neto and catcher Logan O’Hoppe.

Neto this season has become the second shortstop in franchise history to hit 10 home runs before the All-Star break, joining Jim Fregosi, who did it in 1970. With his next stolen base, Neto would become the first Angels infielder with 10 homers and 10 stolen bases before the break since All-Star third baseman Troy Glaus, in 2000.

Angels shortstop Zach Neto’s strong play has helped him earn plenty of favorable comparisons in only his second season in the majors.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

In their 64 seasons, only one Angels shortstop has hit more than 14 home runs in a season: Fregosi, who did it 56 years ago, 59 years ago, and 60 years ago.

Neto is batting .250 with a .732 OPS, in the same ballpark as Anthony Volpe of the New York Yankees, at .271 with six home runs and a .742 OPS. Volpe has more than four times as many All-Star votes primarily because (a) he plays for the Yankees and (b) he plays for the first-place Yankees.

But Volpe, a defending Gold Glove winner, also has a superior WAR because he gets on base more often and because he ranks, at least according to publicly available defensive metrics, as a premier defensive shortstop again this season. Those metrics do not love Neto.

“Day to day, I see him playing his butt off,” Washington said. “I don’t care about the metrics.”

Washington compared Neto to Dansby Swanson, a two-time All-Star he coached in Atlanta. In his second season, Swanson batted .232 with six home runs.

“Growing up, I have always looked up to Mike. Being able to share the same locker room and field and hear his thoughts, it’s a dream come true.”

— Zach Neto, on playing alongside Angels star Mike Trout

“Dansby wasn’t what Dansby is when he first got here,” Washington said. “It took some work.

“He reminds me of Dansby in the way he controls things out there.”

Mark Gubicza, the Angels’ broadcaster and 14-year major league pitcher, said Neto’s instincts and anticipation reminded him of Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr.

Anderson compared Neto favorably to Trevor Story, his former teammate with the Colorado Rockies, who batted .239 and struck out 191 times in his second season. Story emerged as an All-Star, and Anderson believes Neto can too.

“I don’t care if he hits .195. You want him at shortstop every day,” Anderson said. “His defense is that good.”

ESPN last week considered the question of which shortstop a team would want over the next five years. The top two picks were the marquee youngsters: MVP contenders Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals and Gunnar Henderson of the Baltimore Orioles. Volpe ranked eighth.

Angels shortstop Zach Neto throws to first base against the Dodgers on Friday.

“You could say it’s confidence. You could say it’s cockiness. Whatever you want to say. It’s just the way I carry myself every day. I just go out there and try to have fun.”

— Zach Neto, on his on-field demeanor

Of the 15 shortstops mentioned — three of which currently play in the minor leagues — Neto was not one of them.

The way Neto would tell it, that would be just the latest in the pile of chips atop his shoulder. You might not know it from watching him play, though.

“I like to have a lot of fun out there,” he said. “You could say it’s confidence. You could say it’s cockiness. Whatever you want to say. It’s just the way I carry myself every day. I just go out there and try to have fun.”

That is how they do it in the 305 area code.

“Being born and raised in Miami, it’s kind of a reputation down there,” Neto said.

The perennial high school powers courted him, he said, but only after he emerged as a prep star. He declined to transfer.

The big-time college programs wooed him, he said, but only after he emerged as a star at Campbell. He declined to transfer.

The big-time agents pursued him, he said, but only when it became evident he would be a million-dollar draft pick. He turned them down and stayed with the low-profile hometown agent who had helped place him in college summer leagues.

And, when he signed with the Angels, he reminded his parents he had promised to get his college degree and pledged he would get it done one day, no matter how long baseball might keep him away from the classroom.

“It’s more of a loyalty thing for me,” Neto said.

Zach Neto runs to first base against the Dodgers.

That makes him appreciate Mike Trout all the more. The best player in franchise history twice passed up free agency to stay in Anaheim, where the home team last won a postseason game 15 years ago, the same year Trout was drafted.

“Growing up, I have always looked up to Mike,” Neto said. “Being able to share the same locker room and field and hear his thoughts, it’s a dream come true.

“He could have had the opportunity to go to any other team, and he stuck with his loyalty and his word in trying to build something here. That’s just what I’m all about. I really appreciate that from him. I am grateful to be able to join him for this ride to change something here.”

So, when the Angels finally return to the playoffs for the first time since 2014, you will be the shortstop?

“That’s right,” Neto said. “That’s right.”

Sports

Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo makes NBA history with 83-point game

Published

4 hours ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo makes NBA history with 83-point game

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Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo made NBA history on Tuesday night.

Adebayo scored 83 points, all while setting league marks for free throws made and attempted in a game for the Miami Heat in a 150-129 win over the Washington Wizards. It is the second-highest scoring game for a player ever, only to Wilt Chamberlain’s famed 100-point game.

“An absolutely surreal night,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters after the game.

Adebayo started with a 31-point first quarter. He was up to 43 at halftime, 62 by the end of the third quarter. And then came the fourth, when the milestones kept falling despite facing double-, triple- and what once appeared to be a quadruple-team from a Wizards defense that kept sending him to the foul line.

He finished 20 of 43 from the field, 36 of 43 from the foul line, 7 for 22 from 3-point range.

After the game, he was seen in tears while he hugged his mother, Marilyn Blount, before leaving the floor after the game.

“Welp won’t have the highest career high in the house anymore,” Adebayo’s girlfriend, four-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson, wrote on social media, “but at least it gives me something to go after.”

MAGIC’S ANTHONY BLACK MAKES INCREDIBLE DUNK OVER FOUR DEFENDERS IN HISTORIC NBA GAME

Bam Adebayo #13 of the Miami Heat celebrates during the fourth quarter of the game against the Washington Wizards at Kaseya Center on March 10, 2026, in Miami, Florida. (Megan Briggs/Getty Images)

The NBA’s previous best this season was 56, by Nikola Jokic for Denver against Minnesota on Christmas night. The last player to have 62 points through three quarters: one of Adebayo’s basketball heroes, Kobe Bryant, who had exactly that many through three quarters for the Los Angeles Lakers against Dallas on Dec. 20, 2005.

He wound up passing Bryant for single-game scoring as well. Bryant’s career-best was 81 — a game that was the second-best on the NBA scoring list for two decades.

Adebayo scored 31 points in the opening quarter against the Wizards, breaking the Heat record for points in any quarter — and tying the team record for points in a first half before the second quarter even started.

He finished the first half with 43 points, a team record for any half and two points better than his previous career high — for a full game, that is — of 41, set Jan. 23, 2021, against Brooklyn.

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Adebayo’s season high entering Tuesday was 32. He matched that with a free throw with 5:53 left in the second quarter, breaking the Heat first-half scoring record.

Adebayo’s 43-point first half was the NBA’s second-best in at least the last 30 seasons — going back to the start of the digital play-by-play era that began in the 1996-97 season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Jackson Thompson is a sports reporter for Fox News Digital covering critical political and cultural issues in sports, with an investigative lens. Jackson’s reporting has been cited in federal government actions related to the enforcement of Title IX, and in legacy media outlets including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Associated Press and ESPN.com.

Sports

Kings lose in overtime to the Boston Bruins

Published

5 hours ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

Kings lose in overtime to the Boston Bruins

BOSTON — Charlie McAvoy scored 39 seconds into overtime and Jeremy Swayman stopped 14 shots on Tuesday night to earn the Boston Bruins their 13th straight victory at home, 2-1 over the Kings.

Mason Lohrei scored midway through the third period to break a scoreless tie. But the Kings tied it five minutes later when Drew Doughty’s shot from the blue line deflected off the heel of Bruins forward Elias Lindholm and into the net.

It was the seventh straight time the teams had gone to overtime in Boston.

In the overtime, Mark Kastelic blocked a shot in the defensive zone and made a long pass to David Pastrnak, who waited for McAvoy to come into the zone. The Bruins’ defenseman and U.S. Olympian, who went to the locker room at the end of the second period after taking a puck off his mouth, skated in on Darcy Kuemper and went to his backhand for the winner.

Kuemper stopped 21 shots for the Kings, who entered the night one point out of the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The victory kept Boston in possession of the East’s second wild-card spot.

Swayman tied his career high with his 25th win of the season. The Bruins haven’t lost at the TD Garden since before Christmas.

After the game, Kings forward and future Hall of Famer Anze Kopitar stayed on the ice to shake hands with the Bruins after what is expected to be his last game in Boston.

Sports

Jon Jones requests UFC release after Dana White says legend was ‘never’ considered him for White House card

Published

16 hours ago

March 10, 2026

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Jon Jones requests UFC release after Dana White says legend was ‘never’ considered him for White House card

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Mixed martial arts legend Jon Jones ended his retirement from UFC simply because he wanted a spot on the “Freedom 250” fight card at the White House in June.

But, when UFC CEO Dana White announced the card during UFC 326 this past weekend, Jones wasn’t among the fighters. As a result, he has requested a release from his UFC contract.

White was candid when asked about Jones following the UFC 326 card.

Jon Jones of the United States of America reacts after his TKO victory against Stipe Miocic of the United States of America in the UFC heavyweight championship fight during the UFC 309 event at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 16, 2024 in New York City. ((Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images))

“Never, ever, ever, which I told you guys a hundred thousands times, was Jon Jones ever even remotely in my mind to fight at the White House,” White explained, per CBS Sports. “Some guy with Meta Glasses filmed him talking about his hips – that his hips are so bad. And I don’t know if you guys saw that flag football game where he can barely run. Jon Jones retired because of his hips. He’s got arthritis in his hips. Apparently, doctors say he should have a hip replacement.”

White added that “the Jon Jones thing is bulls—,” saying that he texted the fighter’s lawyer saying he would never be on the White House card despite Jones saying he was in negotiations for it.

UFC ANNOUNCES CARD FOR WHITE HOUSE EVENT

The Meta Glasses incident White is referring to came from a viral video, where Jones, unaware he was being filmed, discussed issues with his hips to a fan.

On Monday, Jones composed a thorough response to White’s comments about him and the White House Card. He previously posted and deleted social media explanations, but Monday’s appeared to be his final statement on the matter.

UFC President Dana White speaks after UFC Fight Night at Toyota Center on Feb. 21, 2026. (Troy Taormina/Imagn Images)

“Yes, I have arthritis in my hip and it’s painful, but that doesn’t mean I can’t fight,” Jones, who retired a heavyweight champion in 2025, said. “So let me get this straight, if I had accepted the lowball offer, suddenly my hip would be fine and I’d be on the White House card? That doesn’t make sense. I even received stem cell treatment last week to get ready for the White House card, and training camp was scheduled to start today. I was preparing to be ready.

“I understand business deals fall through sometimes, but going out publicly and saying things that aren’t true isn’t right. After everything I’ve given to the UFC, the years, the title defenses, the fights, hearing that I’m ‘done’ is disappointing. Especially when as recently as Friday UFC was calling me trying to get me on that White House card for a much lower number.”

Jones finished his statement by saying he “respectfully” asks to be released from his UFC contract.

Jon Jones enters the ring before facing Stipe Miocic in the UFC heavyweight championship fight during the UFC 309 event at Madison Square Garden on November 16, 2024 in New York City, New York. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

“No more spins, no more games. Thank you to the real fans who know what’s up,” he wrote.

The UFC did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Fox News Digital.

Jones is considered one of the best UFC fighters of all time, owning a 28-1-1 record, which includes his last bout with Stipe Miocic, knocking him out to take the heavyweight title belt. He is also a two-time light heavyweight champion.

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Scott Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital.