Professional baseball players are wired differently than most people, even other professional athletes. In baseball a player must both be able to mentally handle failure 70% or more of the time and also have an undeniable belief that they will win each time up. It takes an intense competitiveness to be able to relish playing 162 regular season contests a year.
So while fans and pundits (myself included) describe games such as the Angels are playing this week as "meaningless" the players on the field strongly disagree. Pride and future jobs are on the line every night and two Angels are displaying that sense of drive in Seattle.
Every other franchise in Major League Baseball has lost 100 or more games in a season. The Yankees have. The Dodgers have. The Cubs , Red Sox , and everybody else has. But the Angels have not.
No player on the Angels roster wants to be remembered as being on the franchise's first 100 loss team. Yes, putting that stain of failure on Arte Moreno as he slinks out the door would be fitting, but it would hurt the players on the field.
Yes, professional athletes want to win every game in which they play but the players have been asked about the 100 loss possibility and that has to motivate them a bit more.
Sep 24, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Los Angeles Angels shortstop Zach Neto (9) hits a RBI single against the Seattle Mariners during the fifth inning at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Zach Neto is capable of playing a star level and is intensely competitive. The Roberto Clemente Award nominee has a four game hitting streak going and cracked his 27th home run of the season last night along with 2 doubles.
In the last four games Neto has 6 hits, 2 of them bombs and 2 of them doubles. He has scored 3 runs and stolen 2 bases and has walked 4 times while strikout out 3.
Christian Moore hit a huge three run homer that put the Angels ahead 5-0 in a game the bullpen nearly blew. The 2024 first round pick has a penchant for coming up with big hits in timely moments and he is starting to square up pitches more often.
Over the same 4 game span, Moore has 5 hits that have produced 5 RBI including the home run tonight and a key double last night. After looking lost at the plate for most of September, the Volunteer is having a nice run to close out 2026.
Sep 19, 2026; Anaheim, California, USA; Los Angeles Angels second baseman Christian Moore (4) celebrates with second baseman Vaughn Grissom (5) after hitting a walk off single during the eleventh inning against the Minnesota Twins at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
A rebuilding Angels team is looking for foundational pieces of the next winning core. Zach Neto obviously fits that description. After getting off to a rocky first half of the season he has been absolutely incredible the last two month of the year. With three years of club control remaining, Zach Neto appears to be a central part of the Angels teams in future years.
Christian Moore, however, has yet to prove himself. Rushed to the big leagues, then unsurprisingly overmatched when he got there, Moore's development has been far from ideal. Hitting in the thin air of Salt Lake City does not prepare a prospect for the true breaks on pitches near sea level. So for Moore to show improvement as the season wears on is a great thing to see.
With Neto a lock to man shortstop for the foreseeable future, if Moore's bat can live up to his prospect billing that would be a huge addition to the Angels lineup. When Moore's name was called at the 2024 it was with the intent he would form a double play tandem with Neto for many years.
Perhaps this hot streak by both is a sign of what will come next season.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/angels/onsi as Why Zach Neto and Christian Moore Are Ensuring the Angels Avoid a Historic 100-Loss Disaster .
