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Zac Veen’s audaciousness has made him a star in the Arizona Fall League.
A snapshot: In an early AFL game, the Rockies’ No. 1 prospect ran hard out of the box after drawing a walk, knowing that ball four had left the catcher scrambling. As Veen rounded first base, he saw that the pitch got past the catcher, so he gunned his engine and wound up at second base, easily beating the throw.
“I don’t use hyperbole, but I’ve got to say, I haven’t seen a kid play like this in a long time,” said Warren Schaeffer, the manager for Triple-A Albuquerque who’s currently managing the AFL’s Salt River Rafters. “Zac Veen plays with this audacity that you love to see; he’s not scared of anything.”
Entering the weekend Veen, a 20-year old outfielder, had swiped 14 bases in 16 attempts. The left-handed hitter had slashed .377/.480/.475 with one home run and three doubles in 16 games. On Friday, he and fellow Rockies prospect Grant Lavigne were selected to play in Sunday’s Fall Stars Game.
Although the 6-foot-4, 190-pounder has not shown a ton of power this fall, Veen impacts games. He’s not a speed burner but he’s smart on the bases and knows when to choose his spots.
“I have a number of friends who are coaches in the fall league,” Rockies farm director Chris Forbes said. “They’ll call me up and say, ‘We just played Veen again. He’s such a pest.’ When Zac gets on he’s always trying to make something happen.’ ”
Indeed, Veen might be Colorado’s most exciting AFL performer since Nolan Arenado in 2011. At age 20, Arenado was named AFL MVP but spent the 2012 season at Double-A Tulsa and played 18 games at Triple-A Colorado Springs in 2013 before making his Rockies debut on April 28.
Forbes said that Veen will likely begin the 2023 season at Double-A Hartford, where he finished up the 2022 season. There is a lot of work to be done to make it to Coors Field. The Rockies are hoping Veen can add some muscle and hit for more power in the future — Schaeffer foresees 25 home runs in the majors — and Veen needs to work on his skills as an outfielder.
Veen, however, is shooting to make his major-league debut in ’23.
“That’s something that is out of my control but I feel I’ll be ready,” Veen said in a phone interview from Scottsdale. “I feel like a lot of the stuff that I went through has put me in a spot where I’m ready to go out there and start my career.”
Veen’s self-confidence is music to Forbes’ ears.
“I need him to believe that, and I like that he believes it,” Forbes said. “I would never say that he cannot do that. He’s driven in a certain way and he’s truly focused on doing that.”
Schaeffer concurs.
“Those are exactly my thoughts,” Schaeffer said. “If you watch Zac play up close, you see that he thinks he can conquer the world. So I guarantee that going into spring training he thinks he can make the big-league club out of spring training. And nobody is going to tell him otherwise. You love that.
“Will he make (the majors) next season? I have no idea, but I would never tell him that he can’t do anything because he’s the kind of guy who will throw it right back in your face.”
Veen, the No. 9 overall pick in the 2020 draft out of Spruce Creek High School in Port Orange, Fla., advanced quickly in the minors. He has hit .271 with 27 home runs, a .806 OPS and 91 stolen bases in 232 games. He spent the bulk of his second full pro season with High-A Spokane but was promoted to Double-A Hartford for the final 34 games this past summer. The 2022 Futures Game player ran into a detour in the tough Eastern League, slashing .177/.262/.234 in 124 Double-A at-bats.
“He’s been pretty consistent for his first two years in the pros but he got a tick defensive at the plate at Double-A,” Forbes said. “I believe he was thinking, ‘I don’t want to strike out and I don’t want to look bad.’ But he’s looking more like himself right now. He’s playing loose and he’s playing free.”
Veen was eager to go to Arizona and show that he could turn a setback into a stepping stone.
“There are times in this game when you feel like you’re at your lowest point, but if you look at those times as an opportunity to learn, then there really isn’t any failure with it,” he said. “It’s just about what’s coming next. I just have to be a better player than I was the day before.”
Expectations have been sky-high for Veen ever since the day Colorado drafted him. He’s fully aware of the pressures that come with possibilities.
But Veen has a tight circle of friends that includes his agent, Jason Romano, a former major-league player, so Veen has an idea of what he can expect in the spotlight.
Veen is also close with Rockies second baseman Brendan Rodgers and he’s leaning on Rodgers for advice and counsel. Rodger was the third overall pick in the 2015 draft who slogged through years of injuries and lackluster performance before blossoming this past season.
“B-Rod and I train together in the offseason, and we’re close,” Veen said. “We are only 15 minutes from each other’s houses back in Florida. He’s been very helpful and I know he’s just a phone call away.”
Veen is talkative and outgoing with his teammates. In time the Rockies are counting on him to be an impact player on the field and a leader in the clubhouse.
“There is this confidence and there is this cockiness in there that’s good, that we honestly need more of,” Schaeffer said. “All of the players flock to him. They go where he goes.”
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