Zack Short faces limited playing time after achieving dream of making Mets’ roster

LOS ANGELES — Zack Short realized a dream when he was named to the Mets’ Opening Day roster, but sometimes your dreams don’t turn out exactly how you imagined. A local kid out of Hurley who played college baseball at Sacred Heart, the utility infielder grew up rooting for the Mets thanks to his dad, hoping someday he could play for his favorite team.

But Short isn’t exactly playing much. Entering Friday, he’s played in eight of the Mets’ 18 games, making only three starts, all of them at third base. With the Mets currently carrying two utility infielders, Short and Joey Wendle, and Brett Baty playing his best baseball yet, playing time can be hard to come by.

“Everybody dreams about being in the big leagues,” Short recently told the Daily News. “But you don’t dream about not playing.”

However, it’s not in Short’s DNA to sit around sulking about not playing. He’d rather be in the big leagues than in the minor leagues and he’s doing what he can to ensure he does whatever he can to make the team better, even when he’s not in the lineup. In this case, that means bringing energy in the dugout.

Short is as diligent about his pregame work as he is about bringing energy in the dugout.

“You feed off of good energy and if you’re that bad egg, you can stick out like a sore thumb,” he said. “That is, in my opinion, one of the worst qualities that you can have. I can make somebody feel good when they do something little throughout a game. I kind of try to be as genuine as I can and make sure that I’m trying to give off the best energy I can throughout the game. Being a spark plug in the dugout is something I take pride in because I’m trying to help maintain the great culture that we have here.”

The Mets are exceptionally proud of the culture that exists right now and have attributed much of this 8-2 stretch to it. Players like Short and his counterpart, Wendle, have contributed to that. Despite competing for playing time, the two have also developed a friendship this season. It goes back to spring training when their lockers were next to one another in Port St. Lucie, but the 28-year-old Short found himself seeking advice from the 33-year-old Wendle.

“Talking to Joey has been huge,” Short said.

A veteran infielder who has experienced failure and success in the major leagues, Wendle became a sounding board for Short. Since then, the two have a mutual appreciation for one another.

“We have such similar profiles, we play multiple positions and make a lot out of ourselves offensively,” Wendle said. “We talk a lot about a lot of infield stuff, honestly, just a lot of baseball stuff and our thought processes. If he says he’s learned a lot from me, I’ve also learned a lot from him.”

Wendle isn’t wrong, they do profile similarly. Wendle has more of a history offensively than Short does and so far this season he’s gone 3-for-12 with a double and an RBI. Short is 1-for-8 with a walk, a run and four strikeouts. But Short has drawn praise from the other infielders for starting some tough double plays at third base and he’s made some excellent diving stops on line drives.

The Mets are divvying up the playing time based on matchups. Manager Carlos Mendoza has continued to emphasize that they are both very important to the team and has lauded their preparation.

Short learned just how important preparation is as a reserve player for the Detroit Tigers last season. With a young, rebuilding team, the Tigers used pinch-hitters and defensive replacements frequently.

“I’ve dealt with it in the past, making sure that I take ground balls kind of at a different spot every day, and then take extra throughout BP or try to get as many live reads as I can,” Short said. “It’s the closest you’re going to get to a game situation. Last year really prepared me and I learned so much of how to come off the bench and how to stay ready for, basically, any situation.

“You’re not taught that in the minor leagues at all unless you go through it.”

Short may eventually get squeezed out for someone like Mark Vientos and he isn’t naive to that possibility. But for now, the Mets like what Short and Wendle are bringing on the field and in the dugout.

“You want to play like every player,” Wendle said. “You have to have that desire to play. But there is going to be an opportunity at some point to get consistent at-bats, you just don’t always know when that’s going to be, so you have to be ready. It could happen mid-game at some point and if something changes, then you’re the guy at that position.”