In many ways, Zac Veen’s first dozen games in the majors last year summed up everything the Rockies’ new front office boss thought the club was doing wrong when it came to debuting top prospects.
Veen, Colorado’s No. 9 overall pick in the 2020 draft, hit just .118 in that stint while striking out at a 37.8% clip. The outfielder’s at-bats were largely undisciplined, and judging by the entirety of his turbulent 2025 season, Veen clearly lacked the off-field maturity to be ready for his call-up.
Enter Paul DePodesta, the Rockies’ first-year president of baseball operations, and his belief that even the organization’s most prized minor leaguers needed more seasoning before getting a chance in LoDo.
“One of the things we really did purposely this winter was to try to help stabilize the big-league team,” DePodesta said. “The ancillary benefit of that was, and we’ve talked about this extensively (since I was hired), that it was going to force our young players to really earn their spot, to force their way onto the team, and not sort of skip part of what we think is really foundational experience at both Double-A and Triple-A.
“Sometimes players that are extremely talented will show up in the big leagues just a little too quickly.”
That philosophy is being exercised in real time this season with Veen as well as first baseman/outfielder Charlie Condon. Both players opened the season with Triple-A Albuquerque, and the Rockies seem in no rush to get Veen back up to the majors or to debut Condon, the club’s No. 3 overall pick in ’24.
Rockies outfielder Zac Veen walks back to the dugout after striking out during the team’s Cactus League opener at Salt River Field at Talking Stick in Scottsdale, Arizona on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. The Arizona Diamondbacks went onto beat the Colorado Rockies 3-2. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
Veen’s newfound sobriety
For Veen, his biggest hurdle back to the bigs — a substance abuse issue — is now out of the way after the 24-year-old got sober in the offseason.
As Veen first detailed during spring training to MLB.com’s Thomas Harding, the outfielder was smoking marijuana every day last season and drinking excessively, too. Veen further explained those issues in an interview this week with The Denver Post, noting he got in trouble with the organization last season after getting caught smoking marijuana during a game at Isotopes Park.
“There where times last year where I had the world in the palm of my hand, or so it seemed, and I wasn’t feeling as fulfilled as I am since I stopped doing all that stuff,” Veen said. “I’m more fulfilled now, even if baseball or other things aren’t going my way, than if I was with the world seemingly in the palm of my hand when I was drinking and smoking.”
Veen, who says substance abuse issues are prevalent in his family, understands addiction recovery is not a straight line.
He’s been intentional with his actions to maintain sobriety this season, including attending Bible studies, recovery groups in Albuquerque and consistent calls with his pastor from his church back in his home state of Florida. Veen also leaned heavily for guidance on his former high school and club coach, Johnny Goodrich, whom Veen called “the closest thing to a father figure I have in my life,” considering the outfielder has not seen his biological father since the age of 15.
“I have gone to a few random (recovery) meetings since I’ve been in Arizona or I’ve been here (in Albuquerque),” Veen said. “And that’s kind of how I stay on that (sobriety). I just really appreciate being around people who want to better themselves and be the best they can be, which is what I want for myself.”
On the field, Veen is hitting .258 with two homers through 25 games. He’s played all three outfield spots this season, and DePodesta believes that finding the balance between being a free swinger and being selective when the situation or count calls for it will help Veen take the next step offensively.
“If he can rein in that (aggression) in a little bit because big league pitchers are better equipped to take advantage of that, he can do so much damage on so many pitches,” DePodesta said. “So if we can bring him in a little but still allow him to be aggressive on the right pitches, he has a really, really bright future. He’s still showing all the same tools. He’s got big power, he can run. He’s versatile defensively.”
Veen, who was limited to just 46 games in 2023 and 65 games in ’24 due to injuries, says his goal is to stay on the field all season.
“Best-case scenario is I get 500 to 600 at-bats and I play in the most games that I’ve ever played in,” Veen said. “That is the ultimate scenario for me. In a perfect world, I’m obviously in the major leagues (at some point in ’26), but in an even more perfect world, I’m just being the best version of myself every day. And at the end of the year, the pieces fell right where I wanted them to.”
Colorado Rockies infielder, Charlie Condon, right, guards first base during the action of the first 2026 spring training game at Salt River Field at Talking Stick in Scottsdale, Arizona on Feb. 20, 2026. The Arizona Diamondbacks went onto beat the Colorado Rockies 3-2. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
Condon stacking ‘healthy reps’
While Veen bides his time, fans have been clamoring for the arrival of Condon, who followed up a torrid spring training with a solid start to the season in Triple-A.
The 23-year-old is batting .269 with four homers through his first 21 games, but DePodesta says the debut of Colorado’s second-ranked prospect behind shortstop Ethan Holliday (who is currently in Low-A) likely isn’t imminent.
“It’s hard for any of us to say exactly what that time is or how long that takes, but we all want to make sure that he has that (base),” DePodesta said. “And I think he’s certainly showing signs of that. He’s doing all the right things. Now it’s just a matter of being able to do that longer and get even more experience under his belt so he feels really, really good about it before he gets a chance to come up to Coors Field. Hopefully, at that point, he never goes back.”
After struggling in his debut pro season in 2024, where Condon hit .180 with one homer in 24 games while dealing with a finger injury, he fractured his wrist at the start of the ’25 campaign. So ’26 has been his first fully healthy season as a pro, which Condon is relishing as he waits for the call that’s been expected since the day he got drafted.
“It’s been nice to be able to stack healthy reps,” Condon said. “There’s something to be said for being able to be healthy for an extended period of time and really finding a groove. And so that’s been refreshing for sure.
“Whenever that time comes (for my debut), I will 100% be ready.”
Condon, who led the NCAA with a BBCOR-era record 37 homers for Georgia in 2024, has yet to find consistent power in the minors. He has 19 homers in 145 games, and while DePodesta lauded Condon’s “mature approach” at the plate, Condon acknowledged he’s still searching for the right combination of average and power.
“For me, it’s really about blending the hit tool and the power tool,” Condon said. “I don’t want to be a guy that’s just all one or the other. I want to be a guy that handles the bat well but also runs a fair amount of balls out of the yard every year.”
In the field, Condon has split his time this season between first base and right field. He also played third base in college and briefly in the minors, but that position seems to be tabled for now.
“It comes pretty easy to him in the outfield — he feels comfortable there, he tracks the ball well,” DePodesta said. “He’s working hard in pregame in terms of getting even better jumps and covering more ground. But given his athleticism and his length (at 6-foot-5), he’s going to get some balls both down the line and in the gap. He’s got a chance to be a pretty good corner outfielder.”
Veen, Condon fit in 2026
With the Rockies outperforming critics’ expectations through the first month-plus of 2026 — Colorado is 14-18, matching the win total the club didn’t get to until June 15 of last year’s disastrous 119-loss season — the question becomes of how Veen and Condon could fit into the big-league roster.
Veen is on Colorado’s 40-man roster, but Condon is not, so the latter would require designating someone for assignment. Triple-A outfielder Sterlin Thompson is also on the 40-man roster, and given he’s currently hitting .308 with a .438 on-base percentage, he very well might get the call before Veen or Condon.
There could be a performance-based opening for one of those players sometime in the near future if current trends hold. In the outfield, Troy Johnston (who also plays first base) and Mickey Moniak have been two of the strengths of the lineup so far. But left fielder Jordan Beck (hitting .153 with one homer) and center fielder Brenton Doyle (hitting .220 with one homer) are struggling.
Both Beck and Doyle have options, though it’s unlikely Colorado would send Doyle down to Triple-A, given the importance of his two-time Gold Glove Award defense in the wide Coors Field outfield. DePodesta gave a vote of confidence to both players, especially considering the platooning that has been going on in the outfield with Johnston, Jake McCarthy and Tyler Freeman also seeing time out there.
Meanwhile, at first base, T.J. Rumfield is hitting .264 with three homers and is playing well enough to warrant an extended opportunity to keep that job for the time being. Rumfield tore up spring training to earn the job after being acquired via a January trade with the Yankees for reliever Angel Chivilli.
Condon, like Veen, isn’t putting extra weight on himself to force the Rockies’ hand for a call-up.
“This game is hard enough by itself, and it becomes even harder when you start putting external pressure like that on yourself,” Condon said. “So for me it’s about focusing on the day-to-day. Obviously (debuting this season) is a goal of mine. That’s something I’m working very hard for. But will I be upset and disappointed in myself if that doesn’t happen? Yeah, sure, probably a little bit. But it’s not something that I can focus too much on because so much of that is out of my control.”
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