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WEYMOUTH, Mass. (April 22, 2021) -- The list of Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL) alumni to climb all the way to “The Show” increased to five as former Brockton Rox infielder Zack Short made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut with the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday afternoon.
Short started at third base and hit eighth in the starting lineup as the Tigers dropped the first game of a doubleheader to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-2. He recorded a pair of walks in three plate appearances and made a highlight diving stop in the field during his debut.
During his standout collegiate career at Sacred Heart University, Short played for the Rox in 2014 and was that year’s lone recipient of the Futures League’s prestigious Adam Keenan Sportsmanship & Scholarship Award. The native of Hurley, N.Y., hit .238 with a league-leading six triples, as well as 16 total extra-base hits, 23 RBI and team-high 34 runs scored across 50 games in Brockton.
Only two years after his stint in the City of Champions, Short became a 17th-round selection of the Chicago Cubs in 2016 and steadily climbed the professional ladder. He earned two MiLB.com Organization All-Star nods and 2018 Postseason All-Star honors while playing for the Tennessee Smokies in the Double-A Southern League.
The first-ever MLB player during Brockton’s FCBL tenure, Short was a member of Chicago’s 40-man roster in 2020 before joining the organization for which he made his MLB debut at the Trade Deadline and becoming the No. 24 prospect in Detroit’s deep farm system according to MLB Pipeline. MLB.com considered Short to be “one of the best fielding shortstops in the Tigers’ system” immediately upon his arrival, though he initially cracked the lineup at the hot corner.
Short is the second FCBL alum to reach MLB during the first month of the 2021 season, following former Martha’s Vineyard Sharks and Clemson University pitcher Paul Campbell. The Malden, Mass., native took the mound for the first time as a Miami Marlin on Apr. 3. In the FCBL, Campbell made two starts for the Sharks back in 2014.
Former Torrington Titans pitcher Tyler Bashlor (South Georgia College) and Nashua Silver Knights slugger Chris Shaw (Boston College) were the first FCBL products to make their MLB debuts in 2018, while Worcester Bravehearts pitcher Aaron Civale (Northeastern University) followed the next season. Civale, who won the FCBL championship with Worcester in 2014, has remained in Cleveland’s starting rotation ever since his Indians debut.
The Futures League is scheduled to begin its 2021 season on Wednesday, May 26. For more information on the Futures League, visit thefuturesleague.com and follow them on Facebook (@TheFuturesLeague), Twitter (@FuturesLeague) and Instagram (@futuresleagueofnewengland).
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