On Wednesday night, the Colorado Rockies selected left-handed hitting outfielder Zac Veen with the ninth overall pick in the 2020 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
The 18-year-old out of Spruce Creek High School in Port Orange, FL is just the third outfielder ever selected by the Rockies in the first round following David Dahl (2012) and Kyle Parker (2010).
The recently named Gatorade Florida Baseball Player of the Year for 2019-20 was a 2019 Perfect Game All-American and had been selected to play in the 2020 Under Armour All-American Game and the Perfect Game All-America Classic as part of the summer showcase circuit at Wrigley Field and Petco Park, respectively.
The 6-foot-4, 190-pounder packed on 20 pounds of muscle during the offseason to bat .500 with 15 runs, four doubles, three home runs, 10 RBI and 17 stolen bases prior to the cancellation of the 2020 season.
No stranger to working out with professional ballplayers, Veen mentioned working out daily with Brendan Rodgers in Florida during a conference call Wednesday evening with local media.
Before that, he worked out with fellow Spruce Creek alum Austin Hays, who was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the third round in 2016 and later became the first player from that year’s draft to make his major league debut in September of 2017.
It would be a shock for Veen to be at Coors Field in 2021 as a 19-year-old and become the youngest player in franchise history, but he’s set his sights high in the early going.
“I want to be an MVP,” he recently told MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis before adding, “Everybody wants to just see you hit the ball hard and how hard you hit the ball, but I take pride in all the little things I can do on the field.”
Though some expect him to move to a corner outfield spot, Veen is hoping to stick in centerfield. Should he get his wish, he has the opportunity to go down as the greatest at the position in franchise history if everything goes to plan.
Veen is the 15th prep player selected with the Rockies first overall pick during their 29 MLB Drafts since 1992 and the first since INF/OF Ryan Vilade in 2017.
With the 35th overall pick in the competitive balance round A, Colorado followed by selecting another prep star, catcher Drew Romo of The Woodlands High School in Texas.
