ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — The Los Angeles Angels activated shortstop Zach Neto off the injured list before Friday night's series opener against the San Francisco Giants.
The 24-year-old Neto injured his right shoulder injury when his arm got caught underneath his chest on a head-first slide into second base against the Chicago White Sox last Sept. 26. He missed the final three games of the season and had surgery in November.
Neto went 1 for 3 with an RBI double as the Angels beat the Giants 2-0.
A first-round pick out of Campbell University in North Carolina in 2022, Neto hit .249 with a .761 OPS, 23 home runs, 34 doubles, 77 RBIs, 70 runs and 30 stolen bases in 155 games last season.
The return of Neto's bat should be a considerable upgrade over Tim Anderson and Kevin Newman, who played solid defense but provided little offense for the Angels. Anderson hit .171 with a .422 OPS, one double and three RBIs in his first 15 games. Newman hit .136 with a .273 OPS and no RBIs in nine games.
“He brings energy. He brings gamesmanship. He plays with a chip on his shoulder. We’ve missed him, and now he’s back,” Angels manager Ron Washington said. “We’re not expecting Neto to carry this team, but he’s got baseball skills, and his skillset plays. His skillset can do a lot for our team.”
Since scoring 11 runs at Tampa Bay on April 10, the Angels have scored 14 runs, an average of 2.3 runs per game and have lost five of their last six at Houston and Texas.
Neto missed all of spring training and began a rehabilitation assignment at Triple-A Salt Lake on April 1. He made eight starts at shortstop, playing 56 innings in the field, and five at designated hitter, batting .286 (14 for 49) with a .988 OPS, four homers, three doubles and eight RBIs in the 13 games.
“This is probably the closest thing to my (big league) debut, getting that call,” Neto said of being activated. “Just coming here, kind of where it all started … I’m excited to be back and get to work and be with the guys again.
“Every day that I wasn’t with the team, it was pretty shocking to me. I wanted to be there with the guys, but I knew I needed to take care of myself, I needed to get right before I came back to play.”
To make room on the roster for Neto, utility man Nicky Lopez was designated for assignment.
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FILE - Los Angeles Angels' Zach Neto runs the bases after hitting a two-run home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Sept. 22, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Kevin M. Cox, File)
FILE - Los Angeles Angels' Zach Neto holds his shoulder as he heads to the dugout after being caught trying to steal second during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Sept. 26, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — The R&B singer Cassie returns to the witness stand Wednesday after a day spent recounting grotesque and humiliating details of life with her ex-boyfriend, Sean “Diddy” Combs.
During her first day of testimony Tuesday at Combs' sex trafficking trial, Cassie described being pressured into degrading sexual encounters with paid sex workers. She also recounted being beaten numerous times by Combs when she did things that displeased him — like smiling at him the wrong way.
“You make the wrong face and the next thing I knew I was getting hit in the face,” she said.
Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, accused Combs of gaining her submission by threatening to publicly release videos of her with male sex workers.
Combs’ attorneys have acknowledged Combs could be violent but maintain that the sexual acts were consensual. They say nothing he did amounted to sex trafficking or racketeering — the charges that he faces.
Lawyers for Combs have yet to cross-examine Cassie, a type of questioning that will give them an opportunity to challenge her credibility or poke holes in her accounts of what happened.
The trial is expected to last about two months.
Prosecutors have accused Combs of exploiting his status as a powerful music executive to violently force women into drugged-up sex parties he called “freak offs."
Cassie met Combs in 2005, when she was 19 and just at the start of a career as a singer, model and actor. She had a hit song, “Me & U,” in 2006 off an album released by Combs' Bad Boy Records.
Combs, who was 37 when they met, nurtured her career early on and also became her boyfriend for a decade.
Cassie left Combs' record label in 2019 and then sued him in 2023, accusing him of years of physical and sexual abuse. She told jurors during her testimony Tuesday that there were loving moments during their relationship but that Combs was always controlling and often violent.
Cassie said she was 22 when Combs first asked her to do a “freak off,” with the first one occurring in his Los Angeles home with a male stripper that left her feeling dirty and confused, but relieved that Combs was happy.
“It was his fantasy,” she said. “He was controlling the whole situation. He was directing it.”
Combs, 55, has been jailed since September. He faces at least 15 years in prison if convicted.
Sean Diddy'Combs, far left, and attorney Marc Agnifilo, second from left, listen as witness Cassie Ventura, far right, answers questions from assistant US Attorney Emily Johnson, center, with Judge Arun Subramanian presiding in Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
Sean Diddy'Combs, far left, and attorney Marc Agnifilo, right, sit at the defense table during witness testimony in Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
Cassie Ventura takes an oath before testifying in Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
Cassie Ventura wipes tears from her eye while testifying in Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
