Zac Veen set to make his major league debut with the Colorado Rockies

DENVER (AP) — When Zac Veen was 12 years old, he would ride his bike for 5 miles to Spruce Creek High School in Port Orange, Florida, so he could practice with the varsity baseball team.

Spruce Creek coach Johnny Goodrich welcomed Veen, and he became a staple at the practices.

“I kind of just started showing up and Goodrich brought me in, and never really said no,” the 23-year-old Veen said.

A decade later, Veen is making his major league debut with the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night against the Milwaukee Brewers. The organization's top hitting prospect is playing right field and batting seventh in the lineup.

“This feels very surreal right now and very normal at the same time,” Veen said three hours before first pitch.

Veen was selected by Colorado with the No. 9 pick in the 2020 amateur draft. He received a $5 million signing bonus.

His progression to the majors was slowed by injuries the past two seasons. He had season-ending wrist surgery in 2023. He was hampered by a lower back strain and a thumb injury last year.

But Veen played well in spring training with Colorado and then got off to a fast start with Triple-A Albuquerque. He went 5 for 5 with a home run and four RBIs in a 14-3 victory over Salt Lake on Saturday.

He was batting .387 for the Isotopes when he was brought up by the Rockies.

“I feel like I learned a lot down there,” he said. “Everything happens for a reason. Might not have been the worst thing.”

The first call he made after he was informed of his promotion was to his mom, and he told her she was coming to Denver.

Veen said he will have at least 10 friends and family in the stands for his debut. It marks another anticipated moment for Colorado after Chase Dollander — the ninth overall pick in the 2023 draft — pitched five innings in a win over the Athletics in his major league debut on Sunday.

“We’ve talked a lot about getting some young guys to the big leagues, to get them exposure, to see what they can do,” manager Bud Black said. “We’ve done that the last couple years. This is just another guy coming. I thought Zac had a good spring training. He swung the bat well, he’s healthy. That’s the main thing.”

Veen took batting practice Tuesday at Coors Field for the first time. He said that helped calm his nerves ahead of the game.

“(They’re) a lot better after hitting on the field,” he said.

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Colorado Rockies right field prospect Zac Veen, who was called up from Triple-A affiliate Albuquerque, warms up before appearing in his first Major League Baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Colorado Rockies right field prospect Zac Veen, who was called up from Triple-A affiliate Albuquerque, warms up before appearing in his first Major League Baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Colorado Rockies right field prospect Zac Veen, right, who was called up from Triple-A affiliate Albuquerque, chats with manager Bud Black before appearing appearing in his first Major League Baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Colorado Rockies right field prospect Zac Veen, who was called up from Triple-A affiliate Albuquerque, warms up before appearing in his first Major League Baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

BRUSSELS (AP) — The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has stepped down temporarily pending the outcome of an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct, the court announced Friday.

Karim Khan has categorically denied accusations that he tried for more than a year to coerce a female aide into a sexual relationship and groped her against her will.

The ICC's announcement was welcomed by women's rights groups, who had called for Khan to step down after the allegations emerged last year.

“In any other professional setting, someone facing such serious allegations would have been expected to step down months ago,” said Eimear Shine, a spokesperson for The Hague-based Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice.

An investigation by The Associated Press last year found that two court employees, in whom the alleged victim confided, reported the alleged misconduct in May 2024 to the court’s independent watchdog. That was a few weeks before Khan sought arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, his defense minister and three Hamas leaders on war crimes charges.

The watchdog said it interviewed the woman and ended its inquiry after five days when she opted against filing a formal complaint. Khan himself wasn’t questioned at the time.

While the watchdog could not determine wrongdoing, it nonetheless urged Khan in a memo to minimize contact with the woman to protect the rights of all involved and safeguard the court’s integrity.

The ICC statement on Friday said Khan “communicated his decision to take leave until the end” of an external investigation being carried by the Office of Internal Oversight Services, the U.N. internal watchdog.

The court’s deputy prosecutors will be in charge of managing the prosecutor’s office while Khan is on leave, the statement said.

The work of the court will continue, according to Danya Chaikel, the ICC representative from the International Federation for Human Rights. “The cases and investigations have been carried out by professionals,” she told the AP.

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration filed sanctions against Khan in February in relation to his Israel warrants. The sanctions are hampering work on a broad array of investigations at the court.

FILE - Karim Khan, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court looks up prior to a press conference in The Hague, Netherlands, July 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)