This story was excerpted from Thomas Harding’s Rockies Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
MIAMI -- Zac Veen’s feelings of excitement worked against him at the start of the season.
Veen, the Rockies’ first-round Draft pick (ninth overall) in 2020 and their No. 7 prospect (per MLB Pipeline), rolled his left ankle during Spring Training but ignored it while chasing his Major League debut, which came on April 8. Excitement rose from there, but that elation had a lot to do with him hitting .118 (4-for-34, one HR) in 12 games before being optioned back to Triple-A Albuquerque on April 23.
“I got there and I saw how big the stadiums were, how electric the fans were, and I wanted to perform so badly for them -- put that energy into the stadium with one swing,” Veen said. “That caused me to get into some bad habits and do way too much.”
Veen doesn’t have to contend with excitement right now. The Rockies reassigned him on Wednesday to their team in the Arizona Complex League, where crowds consist of not much more than family and friends who can make it by the field. And it’s not clear when those folks will see Veen.
The Rockies have the 23-year-old taking time to rehab his ankle. Veen said Sunday he is improving, but he hasn’t been told when he’ll be cleared to play. More importantly, the Rockies also have him working in their performance lab at their Scottsdale complex to correct the habits that not only left him struggling in the Majors, but also had him batting .224 with one home run in 19 games with Albuquerque before the reassignment to the ACL.
Rockies director of player development Chris Forbes said projects such as the one Veen is undergoing in the performance lab are, “Why we have it. … It kind of helps reset a foundation for a guy. It’s definitely not overhaul-ish.”
Veen has sessions where sensors record his biomechanics, and coaches and analysts look at his game performances to put together profiles and actionable improvements.
However, simple numbers explain it all.
Major League pitchers threw fastballs 70 percent of the time when facing Veen, and he batted .091 against that pitch. Eleven of his 14 strikeouts ended with a fastball. The four-seamer, a pitch designed to reach the top of the zone, came his way 64 times, and he had a 59 percent whiff rate against it.
Veen believes he has the ability to hit the fastball and unlock offensive tools that include power and speed. The Rockies agree. There are logical reasons it hasn’t happened immediately. The Minor League season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic the year he was drafted, and injuries left him available for just 111 combined games in 2023 and ‘24.
Before reaching the Majors, pitchers tried to get Veen to chase low and outside, and he drove enough of those pitches to earn a big league chance. But in the Majors, he found himself facing those who are adept enough at high velocity to take advantage of someone who is not there -- yet.
Veen arrived with such an uphill swing that making contact was a steep proposition.
“Ever since I started working on my swing, we've always worked on the low pitch,” Veen said. “Everybody always tried to throw you down, paint the bottom of the zone.
“Everybody is just really good in the Majors. They play to their strengths, and you gotta be able to adjust really quick. The work that I'm putting in now, I'm learning how to hit that fastball. It’s taking your flaws and making them a strength.”
Many top prospects struggle before gaining Major League footing, so Veen’s issues are common. He just happens to be on a long list of young Rockies, and those players populate a series of other problems that have led to a Modern Era-worst 9-50 start. In the past few days, Opening Day first baseman Michael Toglia and once-darling prospect Adael Amador have been sent back to Albuquerque after poor offensive performances.
General manager Bill Schmidt would love for things to be smoother, but he has said players don’t always develop at a pace everyone wants. But there is enough in Veen to give his development every effort.
“There’s not a level above this. If [there] is, it’s called the Hall of Fame, and only a few people get to go there,” Schmidt said. “They were able to figure out [Veen's] weaknesses. He wasn’t able to adjust quickly enough. That’s what he went down to work on.”
Rockies hitting coach Nic Wilson has worked with Veen since his first Instructional League camp in 2020, and he feels the issue boils down to “flattening his path to the ball.” Wilson can look beyond the mechanics and the early struggles to the impact Veen could have once right.
“He's a guy who can help a club, especially when he is feeling like himself and playing well,” Wilson said. “I mean, it's electric. Fans love it. We love it. It energizes the team. It's the kind of guy who can make a play to change an inning and really change a ballgame.”
Veen said his improving ankle health will help with the project.
“When I would put my foot down to swing, I wouldn't always roll my ankle over,” Veen said. “I looked at some video, and a lot of the time I really wasn't clearing my hips all the way through due to the fact my ankle just didn't want to move. I think I was so tight, and it hurt when I moved it.”
Veen’s struggles during his early look-see were stark enough for the Rockies to remove him from the Majors, hoping the time will come when they don’t think of playing without him.
“If anything, I’m grateful that I didn’t have that many at-bats,” Veen said. “I can learn from those, then the next 30 will be better. And I can make the next 500 great.”