KHS’s Short with Cubs at spring training
Kingston alum Zack Short a nonroster invitee with Chicago
The Chicago Cubs made Kingston alum Zack Short a non-roster invitee to their 2019 spring training in Arizona.
All professional baseball teams routinely invite a group of their best prospects to major league camp as non-roster players. It’s a chance to be seen and compete for a roster spot.
The Chicago Cubs bestowed that honor on Kingston High alum Zack Short, who is in Mesa, Arizona preparing for Mondy’s first workout of spring training. Chicago announced the list of 26 invitees on Feb. 6. That group will join the 40-man Cubs roster at their Wrigleyville West complex.
“I found out actually a few weeks ago. I’m pretty excited about going, for sure,” said the 23-year-old shortstop.
Short is entering his fourth year in the system. He played Rookie League and Short-A in 2016, moved on to Full-A and Advanced-A teams in ‘17 and was with the AA Tennessee Smokies last year. If things work well, he could start the season with the Cubs’ Triple-A Iowa farm team.
“I get to play with major leaguers, which is going to be awesome; just to see and be a sponge and soak up everything they do,” he said. “Personally, it’s not just for the experience, it’s to just try and make a name for myself as well. It’s like a pretty serious tryout, so to speak.”
The key for Short, who will be wearing No. 91, is perform well enough to stay with the major league squad in the 140-acre complex through the first cuts. He started his first three years with the rest of the minor leagu-
ers on the practice fields.
“We’re all in the same complex, but on the minor league side. I’ll definitely start over on the major league side and try to stay there as long as possible and then most likely get sent back down,” he said.
Short spent the offseason working out with Kingston High’s other major league prospect, Pat Dorrian, who enters his second year in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ organization.
“It was great this year. We worked out basically every day and kind of spent too much time together,” Short remarked, laughing. “We spent basically every second of the offseason together, which was pretty cool. We’re both picking each other’s brains every day. We’re both pretty lucky to have somebody like that to work out with for the whole offseason.”
At Tennessee last year, Short continued to show his power (28 doubles, 2 triples, 17 home runs, 59 RBI) and ability to draw walks (84). However, he batted just .227 and struck out 136 times as he struggled to maintain consistency. He was hitting .161 three weeks into the season, but had a 12-game hitting streak in May and brought the average up to .247 by the All-Star break. He batted .303 over the season’s final 10 games.
“I don’t think the .227 reflected how I hit but, obviously, the average is what it is. If I can hit a little more consistent and at a higher average, I’ll be a lot more useful to the team to help them win,” Short said.
“I was trying to do too much. The guys at AA are pretty freaking good. You kind of have to take a step back and take what they give you instead of trying to do way too much with pitches. That’s what I tried to do last year,” he said. “I tried to hit my way out of slumps instead of just letting it come to you. I think going into this year I really attacked that, especially working out and with the hitting philosophy. I kind of changed it up a little bit and I think I will do a much better job this year of handling that.
“My swing last year had too much movement going on, especially in the start. If my timing wasn’t absolutely perfect, I was in for a tough AB,” he explained. “This year I just want to try to simplify my load and have everything kind of be
consistent with the lower half. If the guy’s throwing really hard, you just try to get the bat on the ball, (rather) than try to do too much with it.
“I have to be consistent for the year instead of being hot for two weeks or freezing cold for two weeks. I think I’ve learned a lot, especially in the last two years,” he added.
Short, who has been honing his glove work in the offseason, bolstered his stock with his play in the field as he was selected the Southern League’s best defensive shortstop by Baseball America Magazine.
“I think I did okay last year. I think I made a name for myself defensively,” he said.
The one thing that could stunt Short’s rapid rise through the system is a backlog of players in front of him. In the past three months, the Cubs have signed 23 players to minor league contracts.
“They signed a few older guys to minor league deals, so I’m not sure if they’re going to be in Iowa or if they’re just there for spring training,” he said. “I’ll just have to play it by ear and wherever they decide to put me, I’ll go and make the most of it.”