'It’s getting harder and harder': OKC Dodgers' Zach Reks finding ways to pass time without baseball

Zach Reks’ first reaction was to pick up his iPhone, find the video app and hit record.

After a few minutes of recording his message of gratitude, Reks found the contact information for David Price in his phone. Reks hit send.

Last Friday, Price became a hero throughout the Los Angeles Dodgers’ minor league system when he donated $1,000 for the month of June to each player not on the 40-man roster.

“It’s actually ridiculous he hasn’t played one day in a Dodgers uniform and he’s helping us out in a huge way,” said Reks, a 26-year-old outfielder who played 89 games in Oklahoma City last season. “Your entire life you look up to guys like that and for him to help out in a time of need shows a lot about his character as a person and a player.

“He’s a great teammate. It definitely helps me out a lot.”

As baseball remains at a standstill due to the coronavirus pandemic and stalled negotiations between Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association, minor league players at all levels are left hurting.

Some organizations pledged to pay $400 each week the remainder of the season. Most pledged through June, including the Dodgers. The Oakland Athletics elected not to pay minor leaguers after May 31.

And a rash of roster cuts were made the past week across the league, leading to hundreds of players being released.

The lack of baseball and salary has left young talent like Reks searching for answers.

“It’s getting harder and harder to not search for some jobs we can do,” Reks said in a phone interview from his home in Chicago. “But everything’s still kinda shut down. Those part-time jobs you get during the offseason is very limited these days.

“I’m hoping something happens relatively soon.”

Reks is a nomad each offseason.

He’s been a barista — often at a Starbucks — during two separate offseasons. He picked up a love for conversations and coffee.

This offseason, Reks spent two weeks in Kona, Hawaii, picking coffee beans. Each day, he’d go into a field of cherry trees, handpick the cherries and place them in a bag to begin the next steps to harvest coffee beans.

“I made some good money doing that,” Reks said. “That was a cool experience.”

Reks then returned to Chicago and essentially served as a janitor for two local gyms. He opened and closed the building. He washed towels. He cleaned.

Lately, he’s spent a good amount of time teaching himself to play the piano. He works each day to improve. He also plays guitar, which he picked up five years ago.

“Honestly, I get into the offseason and I go, ‘OK, what do I want to learn new now?’” Reks said. “I just like interacting with people. I’m really good with people. I like experiencing new things.”

Reks is also ready for a return to baseball. He’s worked out multiple times with star prospect Gavin Lux, who is just 66 miles from Chicago in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

But with each day that passes, the likelihood of a minor league season fades.

Reks still doesn’t fear losing a year.

“There’s going to be an opportunity elsewhere if we don’t have a minor league season,” Reks said. “Whatever the Dodgers decide to do, whatever we’re going to do as an organization to continue to prepare for if there’s no major league season, we’re going to do it.”

He’s been without baseball before. He played as a freshman at Air Force, but transferred to Kentucky. He walked on the team two years later. Within two years, he was a 10th-round pick by the Dodgers.

That journey gives him hope in a time of darkness.

“As long as you’re with an organization to make it to the big leagues one day,” Reks said. “When I wasn’t playing, there wasn’t hope for that. Now that there's hope for that, it gives you something to work for.

“We’re hoping to get going here soon and be given opportunities down the road to help our team win the World Series.”