Zach Neto will be back in the lineup again Saturday night for the Los Angeles Angels when they host the San Francisco Giants in Anaheim, Calif.
Offseason shoulder surgery sidelined Neto until Friday, when he went 1 for 3 with an RBI double in the Angels’ 2-0 win over the Giants. He was activated after a rehab assignment with the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees.
Neto’s value to the club can’t be overstated. He was the Angels’ team MVP last season after leading the club in RBIs (77), doubles (34), extra-base hits (58) and stolen bases (30).
“He brings energy,” Angels manager Ron Washington said. “He brings gamesmanship. He plays with a chip on his shoulder. And the last time I talked to him when he was in Salt Lake City, I told him, ‘These are the things you have to do down there,’ and he really started playing well down there.”
Tim Anderson and Kevin Newman have shared time at shortstop in Neto’s absence, not quite able to bring the same level of play as Neto.
“We’ve missed him, and now he’s back.” Washington said before joking, “I told him when he went out there, I said, ‘If there’s a play that you don’t make, you’re going back to Salt Lake City. He just said, ‘I ain’t worried about that.'”
Right-hander Kyle Hendricks (0-1, 4.20 ERA) will make his fourth start of the season for the Angels Saturday, looking for his first victory with his home-county team since signing a one-year, $2.5 million contract. He made 270 starts for the Chicago Cubs over the first 11 seasons of his career.
Hendricks got off to a good start this season, giving up two runs in seven innings in his Angels debut on April 1 against the St. Louis Cardinals. And in his second start a week later, he shut out the Tampa Bay Rays on two hits over five innings. While the Angels won both games, he didn’t figure into either decision.
However, in his most recent start, he yielded five runs in four innings in a loss to the Houston Astros.
Hendricks has had success against San Francisco in his career, going 7-3 with a 2.33 ERA in 14 starts.
Giants right-hander Landen Roupp (1-2, 4.80 ERA) will make his fourth start of the season, coming off his first win after allowing four runs in five innings to the Philadelphia Phillies last Monday. Roupp has never faced the Angels.
Giants second baseman Tyler Fitzgerald went 1-for-3 on Friday and seems to have turned things around after a slow start. He earned the starting job with a solid rookie season last year, but he was hitting .179 with no homers, no RBIs and only one extra-base hit in his first nine games this year.
A little help in the batting cage from Giants legend Barry Bonds seems to have played a role in the turnaround.
“It’s been fantastic here recently,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “He went from really having a tough time to start – he’s a little bit of a slow starter to begin with – but you look up now, and he’s hitting over .300 (.310). It’s been fantastic. He’s really kind of settling down in the bottom part of the order, knocking in some runs and scoring some runs, too.”
–Field Level Media
