Zachary Richard Veen (born December 12, 2001) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

for the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. Th ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He was selected ninth overall by the Rockies in the

2020 MLB draft The 2020 Major League Baseball draft took place on June 10 and 11, 2020. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. The draft order was set based on the reverse order of the 2019 MLB season standings. In ad ...

and made his MLB debut in 2025.

Amateur career

Veen attended

Spruce Creek High School Spruce Creek High School is a public secondary school located in the city of Port Orange, Florida. It is the largest IB high school in North America and is one of Newsweek's Top 100 High Schools. Spruce Creek High School is part of the Volu ...

Port Orange, Florida Port Orange is a city in Volusia County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach metropolitan area. Port Orange is a principal city in the Fun Coast region of the state of Florida. As of the 2020 c ...

. As a junior in 2019, he was named ''

The Daytona Beach News-Journal ''The Daytona Beach News-Journal'' is a Florida daily newspaper serving Volusia and Flagler Counties. It grew from the ''Halifax Journal'', which was started in 1883. The Davidson family purchased the newspaper in 1928 and retained control un ...

'' Baseball Player of the Year after hitting .414 with 36

stolen bases In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out a ...

. He played in the 2019

Under Armour All-America Baseball Game The Under Armour High School All-America Baseball Game is a high school baseball all-star game held annually to spotlight the United States' top high school players who are juniors or seniors. The game is played in late July or August, at Wrigley ...

and 2019 Perfect Game All-American Classic. In November 2019, he committed to play

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

Professional career

Veen was considered one of the top prospects for the

2020 Major League Baseball draft The 2020 Major League Baseball draft took place on June 10 and 11, 2020. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. The draft order was set based on the reverse order of the 2019 MLB season standings. In ad ...

. He was selected ninth overall by the

. He signed with the Rockies on June 24 for a $5 million bonus. Veen did not appear for the Rockies organization in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Veen made his professional debut in 2021 with the

Fresno Grizzlies The Fresno Grizzlies are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. They are located in Fresno, California, and play their home games at Chukchansi Park, which was opened in 2002 in ...

of the

Low-A West The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leagu ...

. Over 106 games, he slashed .301/.399/.501 with 15 home runs, 75 RBI, 27 doubles and 36 stolen bases. He was assigned to the

Spokane Indians The Spokane Indians are a Minor League Baseball team located in Spokane Valley, the city immediately east of Spokane, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest. The Indians are members of the High-A Northwest League (NWL) as an affiliate of the Co ...

of the

High-A High-A, officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing, is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A and D ...

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseba ...

to begin the 2022 season. He was promoted to the

Hartford Yard Goats The Hartford Yard Goats are a Minor League Baseball team based in Hartford, Connecticut. The Yard Goats, which play in the Eastern League, are the Double-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. The team was founded in 2016 when the New Britain Ro ...

of the Double-A Eastern League in early August. Over 126 games between the two teams, he compiled a slash line of .245/.340/.384 with 12 home runs, 67 RBI, and 55 stolen bases while being caught nine times. He played in the 2022

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season baseball league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are filled ...

, where he batted .356/.467/.466, and led the league in stolen bases (16; while being caught twice). Veen spent the 2023 season with the Double–A

, playing in 46 games and hitting .209/.304/.308 with 2 home runs, 24 RBI, and 22 stolen bases. On June 21, 2023, it was announced that Veen would undergo season–ending surgery to repair tearing and fraying to a ligament in his left hand. Veen split the 2024 campaign between the rookie–level

Arizona Complex League Rockies The Arizona Complex League Rockies are a professional baseball team competing as a Rookie-level affiliate of the Colorado Rockies in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Salt River Fields at Talkin ...

, Spokane, Hartford, and the Triple–A

Albuquerque Isotopes The Albuquerque Isotopes are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. They play home games at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at an ...

. In 65 appearances for the four affiliates, he slashed .258/.346/.459 with 11 home runs, 35 RBI, and 21 stolen bases. Following the season, the Rockies added Veen to their

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

to protect him from the

Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

. Veen was optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque to begin the 2025 season. On April 8, 2025, Veen was promoted to the major leagues for the first time.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Veen, Zac 2001 births Living people Albuquerque Isotopes players Arizona Complex League Rockies players Baseball players from Florida Colorado Rockies players Fresno Grizzlies players Hartford Yard Goats players Leones de Ponce baseball players Major League Baseball outfielders People from Port Orange, Florida Salt River Rafters players Spokane Indians players 21st-century American sportsmen