Zac Veen - 10/7/22

Prospect spotlight on Rockies' Zac Veen

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Prospect Spotlight 🔦

Zac Veen, OF - Age: 20 - B/T: L/R, 6' 4" / 190 - Rockies (AA)

• Born: 12/12/2001 in Port Orange, FL

• Draft: 2020, Colorado Rockies, Round: 1, Overall Pick: 9

• High School: Spruce Creek, Port Orange, FL

Although the pandemic cut short his senior year, Veen showed enough in the summer of 2019 to become the second high school player selected in the 2020 draft, taken by the Rockies with the 9th overall pick. The 6’4, left-handed hitting outfielder moved up draft boards after a strong showing in the amateur circuit during the summer of 2019 in which he displayed a tantalizing combination of future power projection and athleticism. Veen, a native of Port Orange, FL, had an outstanding debut season in Fresno (A) last year, where he slashed .301 / .399 / .501 (135 wRC+) with 15 home runs and 36 stolen bases in 479 plate appearances. He also had 27 doubles and four triples to go along with the 15 homers.

Veen spent most of the 2022 season in High-A Spokane before getting promoted to Double-A Hartford in mid-August. In 400 High-A plate appearances, Veen hit .269 / .368 / .439 (126 wRC+) with 11 home runs. He also stole 50 bases while only getting nabbed four times. After his strong performance in Spokane, the Rockies promoted Veen to Double-A Hartford where he struggled. Across 141 plate appearances, he hit just .177 / .262 / .234 (41 wRC+) with a strikeout rate that jumped up from 23% in Spokane to nearly 30% in Hartford. Veen has a decent approach at the plate, but he does occasionally get trigger happy and swing at pitches in which he isn’t likely to do damage. This was certainly the case in Hartford where he saw both his swing rate and whiff rate tick up against more advanced pitchers.