Maggie, 52, and Joaquin, 54, live in Miami. They were in attendance to see Zach make his debut in Boston, but because of work and other obligations — they have an older son and a younger daughter who plays college softball — they since have only been able to see Zach play over the broadcasts, three time zones away.
“The late nights are the ones that kill us because we both wake up at six o’clock in the morning to go to work,” Maggie said. “But it’s like, we’re looking at the TV and then all the commentators, they’re talking about our kid. Like, ‘Is this real?’ ”
Zach made his big league debut April 15. Monday night’s game against the Houston Astros at Angel Stadium marked his 22nd game in the majors, and over the course of the last month, he has continued to make strides.
“It’s been awesome, you know,” he said of closing in on a month as a major leaguer. “Just keep getting more and more comfortable every day.”
His defensive efforts have not gone unnoticed by the rest of the team — though he made uncharacteristic mistakes in his previous two games before Monday because he had been trying to play through a cut and bruised middle finger on his right, throwing hand.
During a Shohei Ohtani start April 21, Ohtani attempted to make a play on a comebacker that bounced over his head, reaching out his glove but swiftly retracting. Neto was right behind Ohtani, and he scooped up the ball, seamlessly turning a double play on it.
“He’s been awesome so far,” Ohtani said of Neto in Japanese through an interpreter after that game. “I pulled my glove back because I trusted that he would be there, make that play, and he sure did.”
Said fellow starting pitcher Patrick Sandoval: “I love the way he plays. The energy, the smoothness of his game. I really enjoy watching him play.”
(Ashley Landis / Associated Press)
Manager Phil Nevin described Neto’s defense as consistent, his presence creating stability in the infield. His offense — Neto was batting .236 with an on-base-percentage of .329 entering Monday in part because he has been hit by a pitch seven times — is still a work in progress. But it’s sufficient enough that Nevin has moved him from last in the batting order to first and back again, seeing him as a nice way to transition back to the top.
“Neto really in that nine spot is kind of almost another leadoff spot once we start rolling through this,” Nevin said before Monday’s game.
On Friday night, Neto scored the game-winning run against the Texas Rangers, made possible by a wild pitch in the bottom of the 10th inning. As part of the celebration of that run, reliever Jaime Barría showered Neto in baby powder. That game finished after 12:30 a.m. in Miami. His parents stayed up to see that as well.
“They were like, ‘Man, you were 22 before the pitch was thrown. You looked like you were 40-plus after’ because of the powder in my hair,” Zach recalled of his parents’ joke. “It was cool, them being able to stay up that late with that time change. It says a lot about the support system I have back home.”
Sunday is the one day Maggie, who works as an order writer at AT&T, and Joaquin, who works for the United States Postal Service, have as their common day off. They review the Angels’ schedule for the coming week to plan out how to watch each game.
Earlier West Coast games mean they can go to bed at a normal time. Whoever gets home first will try to get dinner ready before the Angels’ night games. Zach said his parents have even left work early to ensure they can watch the start of each game.
“We calculate everything,” Joaquin said. “It’s priceless being able to sit down in front of a TV and watch your own son play the game. We would love to be there locally to watch the games, but unfortunately it can’t happen just yet.”
The watch party doesn’t just happen at Zach’s family home. Any given game, Joaquin has group chats going — other family members, family friends and parents from Zach’s former teams trying to figure out how to see Zach play, from near or from far.
Though they are still trying to map out other dates to travel to see their son, Maggie and Joaquin, as well as the rest of the Neto family and Florida-based friends, also have the Angels’ series in Tampa Bay at the end of the season circled on their calendars.
“Coaching Zach since 4 years old, at that age all the kids wanna be major league players,” Joaquin said. “Very seldom do those dreams come true.
“Being able to see your own son out there, wearing the Angels jersey is like, ‘Wow, his dream did come true.’ ”