DALLAS — Zack Veen is on the clock.
The Rockies outfielder, who turns 23 on Thursday, has played four injury-ridden professional seasons and has never gotten close to making the big-league roster. If 2025 is his year, he will have to beat out a slew of other talented outfielders.
And he’s got to stay healthy.
The ninth overall pick of the 2020 draft out of Florida’s Spruce Creek High School still needs more playing time in the minors, so he almost certainly won’t begin the season on the big-league roster. He’ll start in Triple-A Albuquerque, where he must prove himself.
While general manager Bill Schmidt still believes in Veen, Schmidt knows it’s time for Veen to step up.
Veen is currently working out at the club’s Salt River Fields complex with Rockies veterans.
“I saw Zac the other day, and he looked good physically,” Schmidt said Monday on the first day of baseball’s Winter Meetings. “Like I told him, ‘The key is you’ve got to stay on the field. Dependability is going to be your biggest asset.’ The last couple of years, that hasn’t been the case.”
In 2023, Veen tried playing through an injured left hand that had affected him for much of the 2022 season. After batting .209 in 46 games at Double-A Hartford, he underwent surgery in June 2023. Last season, he started hot at Double-A until back soreness and a jammed thumb wiped out much of his season.
He finally made it to Triple-A Albuquerque, playing in 21 games. He hit .220 with six home runs and three doubles and stole six bases.
Schmidt quickly reminds skeptics that Rockies icon Charlie Blackmon struggled with injuries even after his major league debut in 2011. It wasn’t until Blackmon broke out with an All-Star season in 2014 at age 27 that he became a star. Schmidt also said that Blackmon’s legendary drive and work ethic didn’t appear overnight.
“Charlie learned that over time,” Schmidt said. “Hopefully, the maturity comes (for Veen). We are still trying to help him mature.”
The Rockies added Veen to the 40-man roster last month, thus protecting him from being poached in Wednesday’s Rule 5 Draft.
Catching up. It’s no secret that manager Bud Black demands a lot from his catchers and covets defense and game-calling. So it wasn’t a huge surprise that the Rockies signed veteran catcher Austin Nola to a minor league deal with an invitation to big-league camp. However, Nolan slashed only .174/.260/.298 over 191 plate appearances with Triple-A Omaha last season and hasn’t played in the majors since 2023, when he played 52 games for the Padres. The Royals outrighted Nola off their 40-man roster in September.
The 34-year-old now gets a chance to show the Rockies if he has anything left.
Veteran Jacob Stallings, who re-signed with the club last month, will be the primary catcher, but Nola will get a shot because young catchers Hunter Goodman, Drew Romo and Braxton Fulford still need developing, whether with the Rockies or at Triple-A.
Fulford, who turned 26 on Tuesday, is an intriguing prospect. The catcher from Texas Tech slashed .242/.341/.391 with 10 homers and 21 doubles in 92 games at Double-A last season.
“Those three young guys (Romo, Fulford and Goodman) have some things they have to clean up,” Black said. “Nevertheless, they’re getting closer, and this winter, they each have their own set of goals and things we put in front of them to handle.
“So we feel good about those three guys. For me, there’s five catchers (in the mix). I’ll throw Fulford in there because he had a good year in Double-A, especially the second half.”
Hurdle on hot seat. Clint Hurdle, the former Rockies manager and now a special assistant to Schmidt, will represent the club on Tuesday in the MLB Draft Lottery. The Rockies, who lost 101 games last season, and Miami (100 losses) have the best chance to get the No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft (22.5%).
“We’re excited, and we think there are going to be some good players at the top of the draft,” Schmidt said. “I just hope Clint doesn’t screw it up.”
Opening-day delay. The Rockies’ 2025 season-opener against the Tampa Bay Rays was pushed back until March 28 to give the Rays an extra day to alter the New York Yankees’ Steinbrenner Field. The Rays will play their home games at the Yankees’ spring training facility because Hurricane Milton damaged Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg on Oct. 9.
“I know that the Rays and MLB will do everything in their power to make it feel like a major league game,” Black said.
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