For Veen, the home run was part of his appreciation for Isotopes manager Pedro Lopez’s corrective action a few days earlier that he said “was just out of love.”
On Tuesday night, Veen lofted a fly ball that he frustratedly watched sail into the New Mexico evening sun. But Sugar Land fielders lost the ball’s flight, and it landed in short left-center field. Veen’s hesitation to watch what he thought was going to be an out was costly. Instead of the cheap double that he deserved, he was thrown out several steps before reaching second base.
“I ended up playing just one inning that day just because of that,” Veen said.
Before jumping to conclusions, this is not a story of Veen being a problem player. The way Veen thirsts for coaching from Lopez and hitting coach Matt Snyder, adheres to video- and data-informed preparation and reaches out to teammates is his way of moving past last year’s poor behavior -- largely related to substance abuse.
It was just Veen accepting a lesson that has been, and will always be, a reminder to a player not to let his frustration consume him.
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“We’re all trying to be the best versions of ourselves,” Veen said. “PLo knows the best version of myself is busting it out of the box, and if the ball hits the grass in the outfield, I’m going to be on second base some 90 percent of the time. He knows my game. He knows I have more in the tank to give and can see it when I’m not seeing it.”
Let’s say everyone saw his left-on-left blast off Sugar Land left-hander Josh Hendrickson. And production is definitely what one sees when they look up Veen’s exploits.
Entering Saturday, Veen (.328/.416/.573 slash line) was tied for third in the Pacific Coast League with 18 doubles, tied for 10th in homers with 11, and in the top 10 in the league in a number of other offensive categories.
And his response to the benching? Over the next three games, 5-for-14 (.357) with a double, the homer, three RBIs and four runs scored.
Veen’s work is building a foundation that, should the Rockies summon him, will give him a better chance for success than he had last year. Veen had shown talent and power potential but little strike-zone discipline in Spring Training. Yet he was called up in April. The result was 4-for-34 (.118) with one homer in 12 Major League games, and struggles on and off the field when sent back to Triple-A.
Veen’s chance this year is dependent on opportunity. Cole Carrigg, a true center fielder, started Saturday against the Pirates for the 11th time in as many games since being called up from Albuquerque. The big squad is playing matchups in the corners.
Also, the Rockies will have to deal with Mickey Moniak, Brenton Doyle and Jordan Beck when they return from injured list stints. Moniak was in Albuquerque’s lineup Saturday for the third of three scheduled injury rehab games.
“It’s impossible not to think about [a callup] -- everybody does,” Veen said. “But at this point, I’m just really enjoying what I’m doing every day.”
The tape-measure homer off Hendrickson serves as a window into Veen’s growth.
Veen has already shown marked improvement against left-handed pitching, with a batting average increase from .224 last year to .301. But Veen was not satisfied.
“The past few days, I hadn’t been feeling as good as I’d like to feel,” Veen said. “It was just small stuff, getting my hands a little higher and doing the same thing I do against righties [.348 this year]. I just trusted it against lefties.”
Veen revamped his diet after breaking away from substances, and reported to Spring Training at around 240 pounds. He’s playing at around 235 and has maintained the ability to play all three outfield positions while racking up 13 steals.
“I’m really encouraged by Zac's progress,” president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta said recently. “He’s really swung the bat well, aggressive on the bases, hitting for power. He’s done some damage against left-handed pitching, which has been great to see. Getting everyday at-bats and having that confidence has been terrific.”
For now, Veen must keep learning, hustle all the time and see himself succeeding.
“It reminds me of ‘The Karate Kid,’ when they’re talking about cutting the trees,” he said. “You’ve got to visualize how you want the tree to look before you cut it.”