From bad to worse: Rockies’ top minor-league prospect has season-ending surgery

In yet another lost season, what hope the Colorado Rockies possess lies in their young players. And for the long term, perhaps no player has more hope invested in him than Zac Veen, their 2020 first-round pick who dominated in the Arizona Fall League last year and started the season at AA Hartford.

But Veen’s 2023 did not go according to plan. He struggled, posting a .209/.304/.308 line in 208 plate appearances for the Yard Goats.

And now, the reason why is apparent, as he underwent surgery to repair a ligament in his left hand, ending his season. Veen posted a post-op picture of himself on his Twitter and Instagram feeds.

Unbreakable.
🙂 pic.twitter.com/oAGwFLLCem

— Zac Veen (@zacveen) June 23, 2023

MLB.com’s Thomas Harding reported the details of the surgery, adding that Veen played through it throughout the year.

#Rockies OF and top prospect Zac Veen will be out of action until December. He will discuss winter ball. Did the injury affect his swing? He had 11 home runs @spokaneindians through July 12. After that with Spokane and @GoYardGoats, he had one.

— Thomas Harding (@harding_at_mlb) June 23, 2023

Veen displayed power when coming up through the lower levels of the Rockies’ system. Further, he flourished last fall in 99 plate appearances in the Arizona Fall League, hitting .333 with an .889 OPS.

Veen is listed as the Rockies’ top prospect on MLB Pipeline at MLB.com, which has him No. 29 overall in Major League Baseball.

The Rockies’ system isn’t bereft of talent. MLB.com ranked it No. 14 heading into the season. And one of the brightest spots in their recent woes has been call-up Nolan Jones, who boasts a 1.045 OPS and turned heads during the Rockies’ last homestand with thesecond-longest home run in MLB this season and the longest walk-off home run of the Statcast era.

But most of their long-term plans involve Veen blossoming into an everyday outfielder at some point. After this surgery, those plans are on hold.

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