OKLAHOMA CITY — Triple-A baseball dangles the carrot, crystallizes dreams years in the making. But when you look out from the dugout at a soggy field and see a dog mascot wearing an astronaut’s helmet and eight fans in their seat at first pitch, the major leagues feel a long way away.
This is where Zac Veen found himself earlier this week against the Oklahoma City Comets. In the middle of an emotional journey, the type that can define where his career goes from here, Veen appeared eager, humble.
He looked different. His shoulder-length platinum blond air died at a barbershop a few blocks away from Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. A buzzcut replaced it, his first time with short hair since he was 15.
“I didn’t want to keep dyeing it all season,” Veen told The Denver Post. “And I really like the new look.”
Sixteen days since the Rockies demoted him to the Isotopes following his disappointing cameo — .118 average and one home run in 34 at-bats — Veen is wrapping his head around what happened, how the fulfillment of a lifelong goal was snatched before the first arrival of torpedo bats.
“I’d say the biggest thing I learned is that how grateful I was to be there and hard it is to be up there,” Veen said. “I got a taste of it. And I know what I have to do better to stay.”
Veen, 23, is not bitter even though the return to the Isotopes negatively affected his attitude for a few days. He is working at becoming the big leaguer he and his Triple-A coaches and teammates believe he can be.
“They welcomed me back,” Veen said. “I am just leaning on those guys.”
Teammate Ryan Rolison, once the organization’s top pitching prospect before two shoulder surgeries interrupted his path, sees the talent. It is impossible to miss. In his first at-bat in the series opener, Veen whistled a liner into the gap, scooting into second base before the right fielder could gather himself after a dive.
“He has all the tools. He works really hard. He just needs to be a little bit more consistent,” Rolison said. “The main thing is keeping his head steady and sticking to the process, because his process is good enough and he is good enough to be an All-Star at the big league level.”
Added reliever Jaden Hill, “He is entertaining. A lot of people get confused by his antics and stuff like that. But for us, we know he’s playing hard every single day. We love having him on our team.”
The numbers Veen posted in Denver demanded a personal accounting with the Isotopes. Veen watched all of his Rockies’ at-bats, comparing them against his professional swing over the last few years. It was obvious that he needed to make an adjustment.
Veen either had to stop swinging at the high inside fastball or learn to hit it because “when you have a hole in your swing, they are going to keep attacking it.”
So when he smoked a 96 mph heater with 105 mph exit velocity down the right field line this week, it articulated his improvement. When he followed with a laser off 97 mph to the opposite field, it spoke to a player whose tweak with his hands and mindset are slowly taking hold.
“Sometimes that’s what has to happen, a guy has to get sent up to find out what they need to work on,” Isotopes hitting instructor Jordan Pacheco, a former Rockies player, explained. “When he first came back down, he was getting blown up on 91 (mph). He wasn’t in the right position. He’s definitely trending the right away. When you catch a fastball out front that is a little up in the zone, you know, OK, we are getting somewhere.”
The Rockies recognized Veen was not a finished product when he won spring training MVP honors and earned his first big league call-up after 351 minor league games. At 6-foot-3, 190 pounds, he is built more like a college kid, his frame capable of adding 10 to 15 pounds of muscle, the Triple-A staff believes.
That becomes an important element because for Veen to reach his potential, he needs power.
“He definitely has access to it, and I believe will have it,” Pacheco said.
While the bat is the path back to Denver, Isotopes manager Pedro Lopez reminds him it is not a one-lane road. Veen remains a work-in-progress defensively. He makes most catches he should, but the routes are not as smooth as expected for someone who runs as well as he does.
“I have asked him, ‘Do you think you are going to get a hit every day?’ So the key to staying in the lineup is also playing good defense,” said Lopez, who is in his second year with Albuquerque. “He’s a great kid. Of course, he was upset (when he was optioned). He believed he was a couple of days away (from getting his swing right). And unfortunately, you don’t have that time up there sometimes. He will get back up there really soon.”
Baseball is designed as a meritocracy. You get what you deserve. But, of course, there are issues with politics, available roster spots and injuries. Veen, as a 2020 first-round pick, will get the benefit of the doubt.
But he doesn’t want it. Back in Triple-A, the reality of the challenge in front of him clear, he wants to earn it.
“I know what I need to take care of down here,” Veen said. “I am going to keep doing that every day and I will be ready for the next opportunity.”
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