Colorado Rockies land two on midseason top 50 prospect list

The Colorado Rockies have landed a pair of prospects on the midseason top 50 prospect list put together by ESPN baseball insider Kiley McDaniel.

Zac Veen and Ezequiel Tovar are the two Colorado Rockies prospects listed among the best 50 among all MLB farm systems according to ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel

According to the list authored by McDaniel (subscription required), Zac Veen comes in at number 23. The top prospect for the Colorado Rockies was recently promoted to Double-A Hartford after slashing .268/.365/.430 at High-A Spokane. Veen also totaled 11 home runs, 60 RBI, and 50 stolen bases while in the Pacific Northwest.

In his first 23 at-bats for the Yard Goats, the 20-year-old Veen slashed .261/.320/.304 and recorded his first Double-A extra-base hit (a double).

Taken by the Rockies with the ninth overall pick in the 2020 MLB draft, Veen started in left field for the National League during the recent Futures Game that was a part of MLB’s All-Star Game festivities. He went 2-for-3 and scored a run in the 6-4 loss to the American League.

Ezequiel Tovar is also on McDaniel’s list, coming in at number 40 overall. The 21-year-old shortstop has not played in a game since June 29 while dealing with a groin injury. That injury kept him out of the Futures Game, where he was supposed to join Veen on the NL squad.

After a successful 2021 season spent between Low-A Fresno and High-A Spokane, Tovar has continued to flash his skills at the Double-A level, slashing .314/.383/.542 with 29 extra-base hits (including 13 home runs) in 66 games.

Rockies general manager Bill Schmidt told our Noah Yingling just after the All-Star break that the franchise has “had talks” about when Tovar might get a crack at making the MLB roster. However, his health has put that discussion on hold for now.

In his article, McDaniel also mentioned 20-year-old catcher Drew Romo (currently at High-A Spokane) as his “next-best prospect” for the Rockies. Veen, Tovar, and Romo are, in order, the top three prospects for the Rockies according to MLB.com’s rankings.