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About

Zach Neto Named First Southern League Player of the Week

Strong week at Birmingham leads to first MLB call up
April 17, 2023

While a strong start to the 2023 season already led to Zach Neto’s first Major League promotion on Saturday, he is still adding to his accomplishments with the Rocket City Trash Pandas. On Monday, Neto was named the first Southern League Player of the Week of the 2023 season, for

While a strong start to the 2023 season already led to Zach Neto’s first Major League promotion on Saturday, he is still adding to his accomplishments with the Rocket City Trash Pandas. On Monday, Neto was named the first Southern League Player of the Week of the 2023 season, for the period from April 10-16.

The award is the first of Neto’s professional career, which began last July after he was selected by the Los Angeles Angels in the first round with the 13th overall pick in the draft. Neto becomes the sixth different Trash Pandas player to earn Player of the Week honors, after Ryan Aguilar, Livan Soto, and Trey Cabbage took home the award in 2022.

In four games against Birmingham last week, Neto batted .500 (9-for-18) with three home runs, nine RBI, seven runs scored, a .591 on-base percentage, and three stolen bases. He led the Southern League in batting average, on-base percentage, and OPS while tying for the league lead in RBI, tying for second in home runs and runs scored.

He got the series at Regions Field started with a leadoff home run on Tuesday night, adding his first career four-hit game in a 9-2 victory in the Trash Pandas’ first road game of the season. In his final game with the Trash Pandas on Friday night, Neto hit two home runs and drove in a career-high five runs, with his first multi-home run game powering a 11-0 Rocket City win.

Over seven total games with the Trash Pandas in 2023, Neto batted .444 (12-for-27) with three home runs, 10 RBI, 10 runs scored, and three stolen bases. His batting average and .559 on-base percentage both still lead the Southern League.

On Saturday, he was promoted to the Angels and made his MLB debut at Fenway Park, becoming the first member of the 2022 draft class to reach the big leagues. In Monday’s series finale against the Boston Red Sox, Neto recorded his first MLB hit, a single in the top of the second inning. Neto became the 17th former Trash Pandas player to make his MLB debut and the first to do so during the 2023 season.

Neto, 22, is originally from Miami, Florida where he starred at Miami Coral Park Senior High School as both a pitcher and a hitter. He then played three college seasons for Campbell University and became the highest draft pick in school history with the Angels’ selection last year.

The Trash Pandas (6-3) return home to begin a six-game series with the Biloxi Shuckers (5-4) on Tuesday night. First pitch at Toyota Field is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. Josh Caray will be on the call for 103.9 FM THE UMP and 730 AM SportsRadio. The game will also be televised locally on WAAY 31.6, This TV.

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