April 8: The Rockies have formally announced the moves. Veen is up from Albuquerque for his MLB debut, while Beck has been optioned to Triple-A in his place.
April 6: The Rockies are promoting top outfield prospect Zac Veen for their next game against the Brewers on Tuesday, according to a report from Thomas Harding of MLB.com. Outfielder Jordan Beck will be optioned to make room for Veen on the active roster, and Veen is already on the club’s 40-man roster.
It’s a slightly delayed big league debut for Veen, who was in the conversation for an Opening Day roster spot but ultimately lost out to Beck, Sean Bouchard, and non-roster invitee Nick Martini for a shot at regular work in the corner outfield for Colorado to start the year. The 23-year-old was Colorado’s first-round pick back in 2020 and was a consensus top-50 prospect early in his pro career. That prospect status was built primarily on phenomenal performances at the Single-A and High-A levels, where he posted slash lines of .301/.399/.501 and .269/.368/.439 respectively.
He’s been limited to just 111 games by injuries over the past two years, however, which has dropped his prospect stock significantly. A lackluster stint at Double-A in 2022 where he hit just .177/.262/.243 across 34 games already presented some red flags, so many prospect evaluators bailed on Veen when he struggled to a lackluster .209/.304/.308 slash line in 46 games at the level in 2023, particularly when combined with a wrist injury that cost him most of the season. The outfielder’s numbers bounced back somewhat in 2024, as he slashed .258/.346/.459 across four levels of the minors last year while battling thumb and back issues that limited him to just 65 games.
Fortunately, he finally showed he could hit Double-A pitching in a 36-game sample last year and even held his own at Triple-A, with six homers in 21 games despite a 29.3% strikeout rate. That was enough to earn Veen a shot to prove himself during camp this year, and while he ultimately didn’t make the club’s Opening Day roster he made the most of the opportunity and hit well with a .270/.352/.460 slash line in 28 spring games. Since being demoted to Triple-A, he’s done nothing but hit, posting a scorching .444/.516/.778 slash line with as many extra-base hits (six) as strikeouts in his first seven games of the year at the level.
Clearly, that was enough that the Rockies couldn’t justify keeping him in the minors any longer. That leaves Beck ticketed for Triple-A, and the 38th-overall pick of the 2022 draft certainly didn’t do himself any favors this year when it came to keeping his roster spot. The outfielder’s showing in camp was solid enough, as he posted a .231/.306/.446 slash line in 24 games, but that line paled in comparison to that of Veen and Beck also struck out at a 34.7% clip. Once the regular season began, however, Beck’s production tanked as he’s gone just 3-for-23 with a 34.8% strikeout rate and zero extra-base hits. Combined with a lackluster .188/.245/.276 showing in 55 games last year, and it seems clear that the 23-year-old needs more time to develop in the minors before he’s ready for the majors.
What’s unclear is how playing time will be distributed in the Rockies’ outfield mix going forward. Martini and Mickey Moniak, both left-handed hitters, have largely platooned with the right-handed Beck and Bouchard in the outfield corners to this point. Brenton Doyle is locked into center field on a daily basis, and Veen makes little sense as a platoon partner for either Martini or Moniak given his status as a fellow lefty bat. Given Veen’s status as a (formerly) highly-touted prospect, it seems likely that the club will give him a run of everyday playing time going forward.
That could come at the expense of either Martini or Moniak, who would be relegated to a bench role, but it’s also at least possible the club is planning to move Kris Bryant into a reserve role. The club’s oft-injured $182MM man has struggled badly both during Spring Training and since the season began in his new role as the club’s regular DH, having collected just six total hits in 59 plate appearances between camp and the regular season. To what extent Bryant can handle playing the field is unclear after injuries limited him to just 159 games from 2022 to 2024, but it’s at least plausible the club could use him as a right-handed complement to Veen, Martini, Moniak, and Michael Toglia across the outfield corners, first base, and DH if they were to decide to move him to a part-time role.
Such a decision would be a bold one given both Bryant’s massive contract (which runs through 2028) and his previous success as a four-time All-Star and the 2016 NL MVP award winner. At the same time, the Rockies appear to be years from contention and Bryant simply hasn’t produced at the plate since the 2022 season, even when healthy enough to take the field. Perhaps the debut of Veen is enough to convince the club to try and maximize Bryant’s effectiveness in a more limited role going forward.
Veen will likely just slot into Jordan Back’s spot starting 2 out of every 3 games in LF. I doubt if Bryant’s status will be affected at all because starting catcher Hunter Goodman has been getting the DH at bats on his days not behind the plate. KB did have a good day at the plate today,so maybe he will get back on track. The Rockies just aren’t going to consider sitting 20% of their total payroll. At least not for another year or so.
Seemed weird to have Beck’s and a Martini at Coors anyway.
Bryant is a sunken cost. The Rockies aren’t competing anytime soon. Bring up the next rebuilding unit and see if they can change the trajectory of the franchise.
I’m not saying it is what I would do, I am saying it is what THEY will do.
Why would Nick Martini ever play ahead of anyone? Especially this team. Beck better get it figured out fast because Bryant’s not going to make it all the way through April without taking a break.
@don
Nick martini likes to randomly have a week where he goes off
Martini is hitting well right now. I don’t anticipate it lasting through the season, but for now you have to take advantage of ANYONE that is hitting well because that lineup as a whole has been awful.
Because Bud Black is the most clueless manager in baseball
I disagree. Bud Black is a very average manager not a horrible one. The front office gives him a deficient but overpaid roster. They can’t make things much worse by changing the manager, but without changing the ownership and front office, it would take a superstar manager to squeeze more juice out of that fried-up pulp of a roster. It is too bad because the teams has a very good and loyal fan base. The reality is that the NL West is the strongest division in MLB and the Rockies are far and away the weakest roster in that division. Pick your perceived best manager and I just don’t see this team playing 0.500, let alone better.
It is all up to Veen now. This is a team that will be forced to give you playing time if you are performing, so get out there, rake, and run!
Veen was a first round pick and has been a highly touted guy in the past. Time to prove it, Zac! Lots of fantasy owners join Rox fans in rooting for you.
The Rockies could be falling for flashy Triple-A stats that don’t hold up in the majors, bouncing players up and down without fixing the real problem.
Ok, their whole FO is the problem. Secondary problem is that it is the toughest division in MLB. Better to gamble and play Veen, Beck or even Bouchard than to trot out Kris Bryant, Nick Martini and Mickey Moniak.