Rockies' youngster might be worst in baseball at ABS strike zone challenges

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Rockies' youngster might be worst in baseball at ABS strike zone challenges originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Zac Veen has been a cool story for the Colorado Rockies this spring.

The young outfielder has spoken about how lifestyle changes in the offseason are hoped to bring him big improvements in the season ahead.

However, there's one other area Veen might need to improve, and that's his ABS strike zone challenges.

That system is coming to the MLB regular season for the first time this season, but it was already at Triple-A.

And last season at Triple-A, there was no worse challenger than Veen, according to MLB.com.

Veen challenged 25 pitches in 2025. He lost 22 of the challenges, meaning he only won three. That's a win rate of just 12%.

"Veen, a left-handed hitter, just didn't have a good feel for the outside edge of the strike zone," MLB.com wrote. "That's essentially the only location where he liked to challenge, and it almost never paid off."

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That seems like something Veen could actually get better at heading into the new season, too. He learned what's a strike and what's not on the outer edge. He's just got to adjust to that in his game now.

The Rockies are hoping Veen, a prospect who once had a lot of hype, can break through in the major leagues this season. They need more star power, and really just more consistent contributors, on a roster devoid of both.

Maybe they shouldn't let Veen do too much challenging, but they'd sure love to see him break out in other ways.

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