Zac Veen sits against another lefty starter

No surprise here with lefty Blake Snell toeing the rubber for Los Angeles. It’ll be Jordan Beck in right field. The left-handed power-hitting prospect figures to sit against most southpaws for the final six weeks of the season, but should receive plenty of opportunities to mash against righties. The 24-year-old has gone deep twice in four games since returning to the big leagues last week. He’s at least worthy of a speculative roster spot in all formats based on his talent, path to regular at-bats and extremely favorable home ballpark.

Veen’s blast to right was hit 111 mph off of Landen Roupp, giving him two homers in two games since his recall. That the Rockies play six games at home next week would seem to make him an interesting pickup, but, unfortunately, the team is currently slated to face lefties in four of those games and Veen is expected to do a lot of sitting against lefties. Maybe he can change that if he stays hot this weekend.

Only promoted yesterday, Veen made his presence known early on in his first game back up with a long home run. He blasted it 104.7 mph off the bat and it traveled an estimated 407 feet, landing directly in the pool at Chase Field in Arizona. There’s no question that he has game-breaking power after smashing 24 home runs in 100 games at Triple-A this season plus he had a 113 mph max exit velocity. He also stole 18 bases, but has bulked up a good bit since being known as more of a speedster a few years back. The question with Veen is more so how the Rockies are going to get him in the lineup every day. In this came, they shifted Cole Carrigg from center field to shortstop to make it work. Then, Veen was pulled from this game in just the sixth inning so Ezequiel Tovar could go in to shortstop and Carrigg back to center. There’s still more to learn about how this situation will shake out.

Veen is one of the more challenging prospects to evaluate for fantasy purposes because he’s missed a ton of development time to injury since being selected ninth overall back in 2020. The 24-year-old has put up some stratospheric numbers in extremely hitter-friendly environments on the doorstep of the majors this season, batting .327/.402/.635 with 24 homers and 18 RBI over 100 games. He’s been sizzling hot since the start of August and the Rockies were getting almost nothing from their outfield mix besides Cole Carrigg and Jake McCarthy. He’s talented enough to make an impact for fantasy purposes, but a wait-and-see approach feels like the right move. Simply put, we need to see something from Veen in the big leagues before he’s worthy of a roster spot in shallow mixed leagues.

Veen is now hitting .455/.514/1.121 in eight games in August with five home runs, 12 RBI, 13 runs, and two steals. Unfortunately, with Mickey Moniak, Cole Carrigg, and Jake McCarthy in Colorado, there is no room for Veen.

Veen is now up to 17 home runs and 65 RBI in 89 Triple-A games to go along with a .313/.389/.580 slash line and 15 steals. He deserves another shot with the Rockies but likely won’t get one unless they trade away some outfielders at the deadline.

Veen is now hitting .322/.400/.588 with 14 home runs, 55 RBI, and 14 steals in 75 games at Triple-A. He’s being a bit more aggressive than he has been in recent seasons, so even though his swinging strike rate remains a similar 11.5 percent, he’s making more contact and more contact in the zone than before. He deserves another shot at MLB at-bats, but with Jake McCarthy, Brenton Doyle, Mickey Moniak, and Cole Carrigg also in the outfield mix in Colorado, the team likely needs to make a move at the trade deadline.

Veen injured his knee while making a sliding catch, but it’s just a bruise and shouldn’t sideline him for long. However, the offseason addition of Jake McCarthy means that there is currently no spot in the Rockies outfield for Veen.

The dynamic 24-year-old outfielder victimized Sean Boyle for the game-winning blast, demolishing a 1-0 changeup for a 447-foot (108.7 mph EV) bomb to center field. Veen finished the afternoon 1-for-2. He’s off to a strong start this spring, hitting .273 (3-for-11) with a pair of homers, three RBI and a 4/1 K/BB ratio in his first six games. If he can work his way into a regular role with the Rockies, he could wind up being an impact addition for fantasy purposes.

Veen showed up to camp looking physically transformed, and the added strength announced itself loudly with this staggering 468-foot missile, per Statcast. The 24-year-old former top prospect flopped in his first shot with the Rockies last season but he would be in line for a significant role if someone like Mickey Moniak, Jordan Beck or Jake McCarthy gets off to an ice-cold start to the year.