Adam's Prospect Series: Zac Veen

Introduction: Welcome back to my blog, as I hope you all are doing well and are healthy in this crazy time of life! Before we get started, I wanted to first point out that I think this series is going to stick on my blog for the foreseeable future, as I have had multiple prospects come to mind. Researching the prospects, at least for me, has almost been more fun than studying the players who are currently in the Major Leagues. Predicting how prospects will do in the future presents a challenge, so why not take on the challenge, give the best information that I have on the particular player, and then of course get it out to all of you who take time to read my posts? Obviously, not all of my predictions will be correct, but I will always do my best and choose prospects who I think will have a bright future.

For the second installment of my Prospect Series, I have decided to stay in the outfield and write on a player who I think everyone in the baseball landscape should get familiar with. Personally, I think this player is going to be something special here in the next few years. Zac Veen is the prospect that I have chosen to be next up in my series, as he seemed to attract my attention rather quickly. Writing about Veen has been something that I have wanted to do for awhile now, but I could not think of a good title or general time to do so. Nevertheless, creating this Prospect Series has allowed me to finally include him on my blog. As always, let's roll!!!

The Colorado Rockies farm system does not have a lot of depth. As with some farm systems, a few might just have one or two big future pieces. The same applies here for the Rockies, as Veen seems to be one of the only bright spots down on the farm. Aside from Benny Montgomery, another one of Colorado's prospects, who has a high run tool (70), with above average power (55), and an advanced fielding tool (60), Zac seems to be the best out of the bunch. Below, you will find Veen's scouting grades. As always they are on a 20-80 grading scale.

Zac Veen's Scouting Grades: Hit: 60 Power: 55 Run: 50 Arm: 55 Field: 55 Overall: 55

The 55 overall grade puts Veen in the "Above-Average" tier for position players. This result is one that I would have to agree with, considering that he can do more with the bat than in the field.

When I first watched film of Zac, the first thing I noticed was his swing. His swing looks similar to that of Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers, as he has that pure left-handed swing that is so powerful and majestic. His overall frame and build also reminds me of Belli, as both of them are 6'4" and not that far off in weight.

When Veen was drafted back in the 2020 MLB Draft with the ninth overall pick out of Spruce Creek High School, I was kind of frustrated that he was not the first outfielder taken in that draft now having watched him for a year. Robert Hassell III went a pick prior to the Padres and Heston Kjerstad went second overall to the Orioles. Sure, through one season Veen and Hassell are statistically close, while both are also left-handed. Personally though, if you want the next left-handed beast and powerhouse you go Veen every day of the week between those two, specifically when you know that he will be hitting bombs at Coors Field in the next few years. Meanwhile, the Kjerstad selection to Baltimore still has me scratching my head a bit, as I even think it shocked the experts that he was drafted that high.

As I previously stated, Veen was drafted directly out of high school, as he struggled at the beginning of his first minor league season. By the middle of the season though, he picked it up, and when I mean "picked it up", he activated some type of mode that was incredible to witness. Every time that I seemed to check a box score, his average seemed to slowly climb and climb, which obviously resulted in his other numbers to go up as well. Considering that his first full month resulted in a .238 average with zero home runs and then eventually to end up with a .301 average with 15 home runs and a SLG. over .500 is quite impressive. Below are his stat lines from the end of his first and last months of the 2021 minor league season:

End of May: .238 AVG, 19 H, 10 R, 0 HR, 12 RBI, .354 SLG, .350 OBP

End of September: .301 AVG, 120 H, 15 HR, 75 RBI, .501 SLG, .399 OBP

What a difference four months can make! By the end of June, Veen had raised his average to .289 and then to .300 by the end of July. He was even named the Low-A Offensive Player of the Week for the week of July 18th.

After writing the previous paragraphs, one question still remains: Where does Veen go from here?

Zac will be 20 years-old this upcoming season, as he just turned 20 in December. My expectations are for him to get to Double-A by the end of this minor league season which should put him right on pace to the big leagues here at the end of 2023 or the start of 2024. Having already dug himself out of a massive hole in Low-A last season, proved to me that he has adjusted to the pitching at the aforementioned level. The next level would be High-A and then onward to Double-A. An argument could be made that Zac could have been promoted to High-A last season, but nevertheless, he was not. His ETA is 2023 or 2024 depending on what source you look at, but I am going to be aggressive here and predict that he ends up in the league by the end of 2023. The offensive talent that he possesses is just crazy, as I can just picture him hitting baseballs into the trees beyond the center field wall at Coors. From a fielding perspective, he will most likely play in one of the corner outfield spots, as he provides more of an offensive impact.

In the land of Fantasy Baseball, I was fortunate enough to draft him in the first round of my dynasty league last season before he even played a professional game. Now, I see him as one of my future cornerstones on my team as he should be considered "Fantasy Gold" from here on out in dynasty formats. After players like Julio Rodriguez, Brennan Davis, and Riley Greene graduate from the minors, expect Veen to be one of the top players at the position. Having said that, he is already ranked as high as 11th overall in some dynasty rankings and ranked fourth among outfielders, which I think is AMAZING!!! For a player who has only played one full season to be ranked that high is awesome!!!

Veen's ceiling is very high, as we are looking at a guy who could hit around .270-.280 with close to 35 home runs annually, while also knocking in close to 100 RBI. Considering that he will be playing more than half of his games in the top hitters park, these predictions are completely in reach.

Final Thoughts: Veen is one of my favorite prospects in the minors, as I have all the confidence and faith in him to keep killing it and eventually make his way to Colorado. Expect my next post to be somewhere else on the diamond, as I always want to touch on each individual position to some extent. Of course, I hope you all enjoyed my post, as I intend to keep pumping these out on a more consistent basis. With the lockout hopefully coming to an end (at least I hope), I am looking forward to the season and am going full-on baseball mode!!!

See You at the Ballpark!!!

Adam