This story was excerpted from Martín Gallegos’ A’s Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
As Zach Neal stood at his locker inside the visiting clubhouse at Guaranteed Rate Field on Friday night and was asked about the feeling of starting a Major League game again, the intro to “Juicy” by Notorious B.I.G., which features the famous line, ‘It was all a dream,’ fittingly began playing over the speakers.
On March 30, Neal was a free agent sitting in the stands at Kauffman Stadium for Opening Day to watch his brother-in-law -- Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. -- and pondered whether it was time to hang up the cleats for good after not having pitched in the Majors since 2018. So when the 34-year-old right-hander found himself making his first big league start, and earning his first win, since ‘16 in the A’s 12-4 victory over the White Sox on Friday, Neal’s dream-like state was understandable.
“It means a lot,” Neal said, taking a long pause to fight back tears. “If you would have told me this in April, I wouldn’t have believed you, man. Nobody called.”
Selected by the Marlins in the 17th round of the 2010 MLB Draft out of the University of Oklahoma, Neal joined the A’s in 2013 as a Minor League free agent and made it to the big leagues with Oakland in ‘16 and ‘17. After making one relief appearance for the Dodgers in ‘18, Neal’s baseball journey took him to Japan, where he pitched three years (2019-21) for the Seibu Lions in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball League.
After spending all of ‘22 playing for the Rockies’ Triple-A affiliate in Albuquerque, Neal was prepared to walk away from the sport for good, even setting a deadline of May 1, 2023, as his retirement date if no offers from a Major League team came his way.
“Nobody [was] calling me, so obviously that thought runs through your head,” Neal said. “I didn’t necessarily feel done yet. I felt like something was going to happen. Something would inevitably come up. So the only thing that I could really control is to stay ready.”
With no Spring Training to go through, Neal worked out back home in Flower Mound, Texas, with only a couple of opportunities to face live hitters. On April 7, the A’s came calling with a Minor League deal.
Neal still had to persevere this season. Joining Triple-A Las Vegas in mid-April, his first stint back in the big leagues with the A’s in May lasted two games before he was designated for assignment on May 19. Outrighted to Triple-A a day later, Neal stuck with it and earned another chance earlier this month with the A’s in need of relief help.
Making his first big league start since Sept. 6, 2016, Neal made the most of his opportunity by holding Chicago to four runs (two earned) on five hits and three walks with two strikeouts over five innings.
“It’s just kind of been my mantra -- just keep going,” Neal said. “You just never know. So to do that is super cool and something I’ll remember and hopefully give other people inspiration, too. Just keep going, man. You never know. … it was a very special night, to say the least.”