Injury to Angels shortstop Zach Neto's throwing shoulder does not appear to be serious
Associated Press
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — An MRI test showed no structural damage in Zach Neto's surgically repaired right shoulder and the Los Angeles Angels shortstop, who was injured on a head-first slide into second base Tuesday night, was listed as day-to-day.
'It's a sigh of relief finding out nothing was structurally messed up,' Neto said after sitting out Wednesday's 5-2 win over the Boston Red Sox. 'It's pretty sore right now, but it's getting better.'
With the Angels off on Thursday and Monday, there is a chance Neto, 24, might sit out this weekend's series against the Washington Nationals, giving him six days of rest and rehabilitation before Tuesday's series opener in Atlanta.
But the Angels are confident they will not have to play too long without their dynamic leadoff man, who is batting .278 with an .814 OPS, 12 homers, 15 doubles and 29 RBIs and leads the team with 46 runs despite missing the first 18 games of the season.
'The conscientious thing to do is to make sure (he's OK),' Angels acting manager Ray Montgomery said. 'We have a long season left to go, and the All-Star break is coming up. Let's be patient and smart and have him for the stretch run. We're a different team with him. Everybody knows that.'
Neto injured the same shoulder last Sept. 26 when his right arm got caught underneath his chest on a head-first slide into second against the Chicago White Sox. He missed the final three games of the season and had surgery in November.
'I'm going to have to be more mindful of it now,' Neto said when asked if he will continue to slide head first. 'I didn't think anything of it coming back from surgery, but this kind of being more of a recurring thing, it's something I'm going to have to start learning how to do, maybe sliding feet first.'
Has Neto ever slid feet first?
'Not many times,' he said. 'I feel like the couple times I have gone in feet first, I've been thrown out by like 15 feet, which is why I don't do it very often.'
___
More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/MLB
recommended
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox Sports
an hour ago
- Fox Sports
Matt Freese shined in his shootout moment, and the Americans are moving onto the Gold Cup semifinals
Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — After losing a second-half lead to Costa Rica, this young U.S. side was forced into a shootout with the daunting task of facing goalkeeper Keylor Navas. Matt Freese studied for this. Literally. The late-blooming national team rookie, who made a costly mistake in the previous match, actually conducted an in-depth research project in college at Harvard about penalty kicks. Freese spent the flight to Minneapolis reviewing his findings and examining Costa Rica's tendencies, time well spent that fueled his steely performance in the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinal victory on Sunday night. 'To be able to rely on that type of thing and deal with a lot of statistics and read the game and read their hips, things like that, is massive,' Freese said after making three saves in the six-round shootout won 4-3 by the Americans after a 2-2 tie in regulation. The Americans play Guatemala in the semifinals on Wednesday in St. Louis. If the U.S. can rely on Freese like this moving forward, that too would be an enormous boost. The 26-year-old native of Pennsylvania, who has displaced for now 2022 World Cup and 2023 Gold Cup starter Matt Turner, knocked away shootout attempts by Juan Pablo Vargas, Francisco Calvo and Andy Rojas. Calvo scored on Freese in the 12th minute on a penalty kick. Freese, a little-used backup for Major League Soccer's Philadelphia Union before a trade to New York City FC in 2023 jump-started his career, has had little time with the national team for training. His path was only cleared this spring by injuries to Patrick Schulte and Zack Steffen. But new coach Mauricio Pochettino has been determined to push his young players into the deep end during this biennial championship for North America, Central America and the Caribbean, with Freese at the forefront of the experiment. 'I've just got to be ready for whatever game I get, for whatever moment is there for me,' said Freese, who gave up one goal in three group stage matches. 'He's shown a lot of faith in me. That's something I'm really grateful for, and it's my job to repay him and help the team win.' The goal Freese gave up during the group stage was quite a gaffe, a misfired clearing attempt against Haiti that set up the tying goal in a game the U.S. won 2-1. But Pochettino and his staff had no problem sending Freese back to the net for the knockout rounds. 'It's an opportunity to show you can bounce back, an opportunity to learn and quickly move on to the next,' Freese said. Turner played only three club matches in the recently ended season for Crystal Palace, all in the FA Cup and none since March 1. The critical position is wide open for Freese — or anyone — to seize it with the North American World Cup looming next summer. 'I think it's good for Matt, for the rest of the keepers, to see that they can have the possibility and deal with the pressure,' Pochettino said. 'Because you never know what's going to happen in one year. Now is the moment to test or to give the possibility to show that they can deal with that stress and perform.' Pochettino didn't directly answer a question about whether Freese has passed Turner on the depth chart. But the native of Argentina, who began his playing career with the same club that Navas stars for and briefly managed him with Paris Saint-Germain, was clearly pleased by the way his keeper stepped up with one of the best in the world during the dramatic shootout. After each save, Freese told himself he wanted another one. After the third diving stop, he became especially demonstrative — nodding his head and sticking out his tongue toward his cheering teammates at midfield. 'He's done extremely well. He's worked extremely hard," said Diego Luna, who scored his first international goal for the U.S. in the first half. 'These are the type of moments that we live for.' ___ AP soccer: recommended
Miami Herald
2 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Virginia Tech Football Preview 2025: Hokies Season Prediction, Win Total Projection, Top Players
Virginia Tech Hokies Key to the Season Block did this already in the offensive section, but it really is Hokies struggled way too much to consistently get the passing game going, the third-down conversions weren't there, and the time of possession battle wasn't a plus. That all came from the problems with pass protection and tackles for loss allowed. So ... X CFN, Fiu | CFN Facebook | Bluesky Fiu, CFN2025 Virginia Tech PreviewVirginia Tech Offense BreakdownVirginia Tech Defense Breakdown Virginia Tech Hokies Key Player Lucas Austin, OT someone to dominate at a tackle spot. Xavier Chaplin was one of the top players in the transfer portal - more on that in a moment - and he needs to be replaced at left tackle. It'll take fall camp to figure it out, but if Austin plays like he's supposed to after coming over from West Virginia, this becomes a far easier puzzle to put together, helped by ... Virginia Tech Hokies Top Transfer, Biggest Transfer Loss Top Transfer In: Thomas Rimac, OG be way too basic about it, Virginia Tech horked a slew of good West Virginia linemen who took off rather than be a part of the Rich Rodriguez offensive style. Also, the Hokies had an offensive line that needed fixing. The 6-6, 317-pound Rimac is a two-time All-Big 12 Honorable Mention guard who'll step right Transfer Out: Xavier Chaplin, OT was sort of an odd thing. The Virginia Tech pass protection wasn't good, the running game wasn't strong enough, but the line had a few star talents to work around. The 6-7, 338-pound Chaplin was an all-star at left tackle with the NFL size and skills. Now he'll be a key part of the Auburn offense. Virginia Tech Hokies Key Game at North Carolina State, Sept. 27Virginia Tech beat NC State 11-6 early in the 1902 season, and overall, it's been able to take its share of wins, but the Wolfpack have won the last two in 2022 and 2023. This year it's the ACC opener, and with nasty road games ahead against Georgia Tech and Florida State, picking off an away date right away is a must.- 2025 Virginia Tech Schedule Breakdown Virginia Tech Hokies Top 10 Players 1. Jaden Keller, LB Sr.2. Kyron Drones, QB Sr.3. Caleb Woodson, LB Jr.4. Ben Bell, DE Sr.5. Terion Stewart, RB Sr.6. Kyle Altuner, C RFr.7. Ayden Greene, WR Jr.8. Arias Nash, DT Sr.9. Thomas Rimac, OG Sr.10. Christian Ellis, S Sr. Virginia Tech Hokies 2024 Fun Stats - Total Offense: Virginia Tech 4,781 yards, Opponents 4,719 yards- 4th Quarter Scoring: Virginia Tech 120, Opponents 63- Rushing Yards Per Carry: Virginia Tech 4.7, Opponents 3.9 Virginia Tech Hokies 2025 Season Prediction, Win Total, What Will Happen It's not a totally unmanageable schedule, but it'll take several big breaks to come up with something SMU, Pitt, and a don't-laugh-but-really nasty Duke off the slate. It's not right in any way that the Wolfpack don't play North Caroline, but that's for another time. The Hokies also miss the Notre Dame part-time ACC thing, if Florida State and NC State play like they did last season, the road games are a relative breeze with three of the four in the ACC against teams that finished with losing records, and the other against Georgia Tech. But NC State will be better, and so will Florida State. However, the Hokies only leave Virginia once after October 11th, the opener against South Carolina is in Atlanta, the Vanderbilt game is at home, and there isn't any one date on the slate that's a 100% sure-thing no-chance least for now, though, there are too many 50/50 games that lean loss. It'll be a bowl season, but everything has to work perfectly for anything The Virginia Tech Win Total At … 6.5Likely Wins: Old Dominion, Wofford50/50 Games: Cal, at Florida State, at Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, at NC State, South Carolina (in Atlanta), Vanderbilt, at Virginia, Wake ForestLikely Losses: No Projected Sure-Thing Losses 2025 Virginia Tech PreviewVirginia Tech Offense BreakdownVirginia Tech Defense Breakdown © 2025 The Arena Group Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.
Fox Sports
2 hours ago
- Fox Sports
LAFC loses Olivier Giroud's farewell match, falling 1-0 to Vancouver Whitecaps
Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Emmanuel Sabbi scored on Vancouver's only shot on goal, Yohei Takaoka made four saves and the Whitecaps spoiled Olivier Giroud's farewell match with a 1-0 victory over Los Angeles FC on Sunday night. Giroud started and played 60 minutes in his final appearance for LAFC. The famed French forward is expected to sign with Lille after one disappointing year in Los Angeles during which he was largely an unproductive substitute, scoring just five goals in 38 matches. Giroud had a chance to go out with a bang when Denis Bouanga fed him an exceptional cross while he was unmarked deep in Vancouver's penalty area in the 50th minute, but Giroud volleyed it over the bar. Giroud still left the field to a standing ovation 10 minutes later, but LAFC failed to equalize without him in its first match back from a winless three-game stint at the Club World Cup. LAFC scored one goal in the entire FIFA tournament, but still netted at least $9.5 million for earning the final spot in the field. Back in Los Angeles, its nine-match unbeaten run in league play ended with even more offensive frustration against Vancouver. Takaoka secured his 10th clean sheet for the depleted Whitecaps, who won for just the second time in six matches while falling out of first place in the Western Conference. Vancouver doesn't have key contributors Brian White, Jayden Nelson and Sebastian Berhalter due to Gold Cup international duty. Sabbi scored in the 20th minute with an exceptional effort, starting a counterattack with a midfield steal before controlling Jeevan Badwal's pass in midair on the run and scoring his first goal since April 12. Backup goalkeeper David Ochoa made his first appearance for LAFC in place of Hugo Lloris, who got the day off after playing the entire Club World Cup. ___ AP soccer: recommended
