Rockies’ Zac Veen on debut: “When you are young and hungry, you’ve got nothing to lose”

It s a reminder or an inspiration Or both On his left arm just above his elbow Zac Veen sports a Major League Baseball logo tattoo Veen was inked last July after injuring his thumb playing with Double-A Hartford I felt like at that time I was ready for the majors Veen explained Tuesday afternoon The idea was that I demanded to get here at selected point Now the -year-old outfielder is indeed here Veen was in the starting lineup in right field to make his MLB debut at Coors Field Tuesday night against Milwaukee He hit seventh and wore jersey No Colorado s No prospect MLB Pipeline hoped he would make the -man roster straight out of spring training That didn t happen he was shipped down to Triple-A Albuquerque but Veen kept the faith I feel like everything works out for a reason and I learned a lot down there Veen mentioned from the Coors Field dugout surrounded by reporters and cameras Manager Bud Black excited as he invariably is to be part of a major league debut stated Hopefully this is the start of a nice major league career of a good young baseball athlete Let s get him going and see what he can do Veen broke down the big-league door on Saturday night with a -for- performance that included a home run two doubles and four RBIs in Albuquerque s - home supremacy over Salt Lake In seven Triple-A games he hit for with a OPS that included one homer four doubles a triple and one stolen base Colorado optioned outfielder Jordan Beck to Triple-A to make room on the roster for Veen The Rockies believe Beck will become a solid big-league member but he scuffled for the greater part of spring training and then got off to a bad start in the regular season Beck who turns on April had been starting in left field but hit for with eight strikeouts in plate appearances Black declared Beck demands to work on his hitting noting that he struggled with big-league fastballs Veen finds himself face-to-face with the big-league test he s been aiming for since before the Rockies selected him with the ninth overall pick in the draft out of Florida s Spruce Creek High School When you are young and hungry you ve got nothing to lose so this is apparently the best position I could be in Veen revealed The Rockies love Veen s passion and skill set especially his power at the plate and speed on the bases But he s got a lot to learn Black made that clear Like all outfielders he demands to continue to work on routes breaks to the ball jumps and go out and play fundamentally sound baseball Black reported Veen will play primarily right field in home games and could see action in left field away from Coors Field Black announced Veen could also play in center field if called upon Related Articles Octavio Dotel former Rockies pitcher dies in Dominican Republic roof collapse Theodore Bubbles Anderson local Black baseball icon conclusively gets his due with induction into Colorado Sports Hall of Fame Zac Veen Chase Dollander promotions reveal Rockies encounter plan Rockies calling up outfielder Zac Veen source says Keeler Rockies Chase Dollander aced biggest Coors Field debut since Kyle Freeland Veen stole bases in games in the minors and could potentially be a threat on the bases in the majors The Rockies could use that Colorado had just four stolen bases through their first nine games tied for fifth-fewest in the majors Veen Black stated demands to be smart on the bases in general He s got speed and has the aggressiveness to want to steal a base when appropriate Black noted We are going to watch him first-hand in a major league climate for the very first time So we ll see I ve seen him in the minor league circumstances and he can be a little bit overzealous at times We have to make sure through our conversations with him that we will see that major league baserunner up here Want more Rockies news Sign up for the Rockies Insider to get all our MLB analysis