Zac Veen, 2025 Fantasy Outlook

Saw a video of Zac Veen, after he added 20 pounds of muscle in 2020, and I have to say he had a better quarantine than me. He must’ve been keeping in such good shape in 2020 because people were chasing him after accidentally spoonering his name. Feels like I’ve been looking forward to writing this post on Zac Veen since the pandemic. I remember clearly the 2020 MLB draft because it felt like that was the only thing happening with MLB at that time. Or maybe ever again. Weird times! Because the 2020 MLB draft had my attention and I went back to look at it. Spencer Torkelson was 1st overall — um, okay. Since All-Stars were highlighted, the latest All-Star from that draft? Five before the end of the draft in the 5th round, pick 156th overall was Bryce Elder. He wore the Shroud of Touki for the Braves in 2023. The 126th pick and round before that for the Braves? Spencer Strider, their 2022 Touki. Some teams are drafting outfielders and middle relievers you will never hear of, and the Braves are drafting Cy Young candidates. There’s only two other All-Stars from that draft and they were drafted 100 picks previously with Westburg and Crochet. Braves are truly an incredible franchise. One franchise that is slightly less successful at, well, baseball’ing, is the Rockies. Could Zac Veen spooner his name and immunize himself from the Rockies? Is that possible? No? Sigh. So, what can we expect from Zac Veen for 2025 fantasy baseball?

Zac Veen will play home games in Coors, so the boost is gonna be there. Does he need it? Seems unlikely:

Zac Veen (@Rockies‘ No. 6 prospect) prospect goes deep in his second straight game for @GoYardGoats. pic.twitter.com/98eB3o6Axb

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 9, 2024

And one more:

“It’s gone … and I mean, REALLY GONE!”@Rockies sixth-ranked prospect Zac Veen unloads on a solo shot, upping his Double-A @GoYardGoats slash line to .345/.449/.638. pic.twitter.com/G3Xb0X1Fvk

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 2, 2024

Minor league camerawork leaves a lot to be desired, especially when trying to find a guy running. Here’s an example more about the poor camerawork than Zac Veen’s speed:

ZAC VEEN!!!

He pulls off a STRAIGHT STEAL OF HOME ??? pic.twitter.com/hL6otbRbz3

— Albuquerque Isotopes (@ABQTopes) September 8, 2024

So, power and speed, which makes the Fantasy Master Lothario (don’t abbreviate it) go vroom vroom. Speaking of vroom vroom, may as well call him Zac Vroom his speed is so crazy. A Corbin Carroll speed comp isn’t too far off. Last year, Zac Veen went 11/21 across four levels, ending at Triple-A for 21 games with a 6/6/.220 season in 82 ABs. Things are a little troubling under the hood. He had a .231 BABIP in Triple-A with a 26.1% K%. That screams to me that he makes some incredibly weak contact. It’s at 22 years of age and less than a month of games, so won’t put too much into it, but I’d feel a lot better about a guy just mashing everywhere. He has not.

In Double-A in 2023, Zac Veen hit .209 with a .260 BABIP. See the pattern? The K% was only 21.4% there too, so, again, that signals weak contact. A guy should not have 50-steal speed and just randomly put up garbage BABIPs year after year without an issue. Between 2023 and 204, this was only in 67 games, and he was barely old enough to drink. So, again again again, not yelling fire in the theater of Razzball, but you want me to give you my thoughts, and I can’t stop thinking those same thoughts. To take a random guy with insane speed, look at Elly De La Cruz’s BABIPs. They’re not even below .330, forget .230! There’s two parks that can truly help BABIP, and Coors is one, so it’s not all bad. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t concerned.

What’s his ETA in the majors? Well, he ended the year at Triple-A, so should be in camp in the Spring with a chance to break with the team, but I can’t help hear Bud Black’s whispering in my ear, “I’m going to coax Charlie Blackmon out of retirement,” and Zac Veen has me more worried than truly excited. Then throw-in he’s a lefty and, even if there’s no splits, managers treat rookies like they have them. For 2025 fantasy baseball, I’ll give Zac Veen projections 32/5/30/.231/22 in 302 ABs with a chance for more.