Jacob Steinmetz's blazing fastball helped make him a baseball draft trailblazer.
The New York native is believed to be the first known practicing Orthodox Jewish player to be selected by a major league team, going in the third round – 77th overall – to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday.
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The 6-foot-5, 222-pound Steinmetz, from the Long Island hamlet of Woodmere, is a 17-year-old right-hander whose repertoire features a fastball that sits in the mid- to upper-90s and a knee-buckling curveball. His draft stock rose considerably while playing for the Elev8 Baseball Academy in Delray Beach, Florida, this year after previously competing for his high school team, The Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway.
Steinmetz recently told the New York Post he keeps the Sabbath and eats only Kosher food, but plays during the Sabbath and on Jewish holidays – although he walks to games during the Sabbath rather than taking transportation. No practicing Orthodox Jewish player has made it to the big leagues.
"It's never been frustrating to me," Steinmetz told the New York Post. "It's just something I've always done. It makes me who I am. It's definitely made [my life] different, but in a good way."
Steinmetz's summer coach Daniel Corona told the New York Post that he believes Steinmetz's dual commitment to baseball and Judaism has made him truly special.
"There's a difference between being committed, doing all this hard work and having this extra layer," Corona said. "I don't know if there's ever going to be another Jacob, as far as this whole process goes. He set an example that anything is possible as far as being committed to multiple things at once and still believing in yourself, your dreams, to make them happen."
Prior to the draft, Steinmetz had already committed to Fordham University in the Bronx and didn't want to pitch anywhere else. Now, however, after the Diamondbacks called his name, he has an important decision to make: go to college and play for Fordham, or sign with the Diamondbacks.
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