While he may have been picked up late by the Seattle Mariners in the 2013 Major League June Amateur Draft, Zach Shank’s pickups were on time in his off-season job.
A third baseman for the Jackson Generals, Shank worked for UPS Inc. in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, during his first two off-seasons. The manual labor was physically demanding and exhausting but had a side benefit: “It makes this seem like fun,” Shank said of baseball.
His grit-and-grind attitude have been evident in the field where he has played every position but catcher in his minor league career.
“Anywhere” is his favorite position, he said. “I want to establish myself as a guy who can play in the lineup every day. I don’t want to be labeled. I know a lot of utility guys are labeled as fill-in players.”
During the 2015 season he was called up from Jackson, the Mariner’s Double-A affiliate in the Southern League, to Tacoma, the Triple-A Pacific Coast League club of the Mariners. He played 33 games for the Tacoma Rainiers.
Shank’s former teammate, Paul Fry, a pitcher now with Tacoma, said, “Zach is one of the hardest working guys on the team. He is a grinder for sure, an all-around athlete.”
Tacoma shortstop Tyler Smith, who played with Shank in Jackson in 2015 and had been a teammate for three years, said, “We feed off everything he does. He comes to the field with a positive attitude every day. He’s the nicest guy in the world.”
Through Shank’s actions that include the way he treats people, Smith said, “You can definitely see God in him. From the moment I met him I could that he had it (faith) in him. Faith is important to him.”
Raised by Christian parents in Lititz, Pennsylvania, Shank said, “I accepted Jesus into my heart a long time ago.” His parents are spiritual role models for him and his sister.
‘Blessed numerous times’
Shank is a member of the former Lancaster County Bible Church, which has now changed its name to Lives Changed By Christ.
“I have been blessed numerous times in many ways. I was born into an unbelievable family which is part of His plan obviously. I have been blessed physically to be able to play a game that I love. I have been touched by Him in many ways for sure,” said Shank, 25.
“I never doubted from the time I was a little kid that Jesus died for our sins. Jesus is the way to eternal life. It is really comforting to know that there is something bigger than you out there. Everything is in His hands.”
When he was young, his faith buoyed him while facing a health crisis. Shank had an intestinal obstruction that required surgery to remove a section of his intestines.
“I went through some pretty rough times with my health and to bring it back to sports, you are going to go through some rough times in baseball because it is a game of failure,” Shank said. He has learned to be resilient, which is a strength of his game.
Jackson outfielder Ian Miller, a Christian, said, “I see the (Bible) teachings with how positive he is and his optimism. I ask him a lot of questions about his faith and we talk about it a lot. For our team spiritually, he is always an upbeat guy.”
God’s purpose for his life, Shank said, is to “spread His Word. I think that is what I came here to do.”
And baseball has provided a platform. “It introduces you to a lot of different people. Every season you have new guys coming through,” he said.
Shank’s call-up to Tacoma last season was unexpected.
“It was kind of a surprise,” he said. “I didn’t feel like I deserved to go up. I didn’t have great numbers and a few of my teammates had much better numbers. I would have been more comfortable with them going. I feel like they had earned it over me.”
Shank was first team All-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) in 2013 and led Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York, in batting average (.370), home runs (three), slugging percentage (.517), total bases (109) and runs scored (50). A mathematics major, Shank was on the 2011 MAAC All-Academic team.
From Marist, Shank went to Pulaski, Virginia, in the rookie Appalachian League in 2013, then to Clinton, Iowa, in the Midwest League (Single-A). In 2014 he batted .302 with Clinton. He had 71 hits including 17 doubles. Shank also played with High Desert (California League, High-A) in 2014 before Jackson and Tacoma in 2015. His batting average in Jackson was .249 in 60 games last season, .252 in Tacoma.
Through early May this season, Shank was among the General’s leading hitters with a .327 average.
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