Jacob Steinmetz

Jacob Steinmetz (born July 19, 2003) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. He was selected in the third round of the 2021 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft by the Diamondbacks. He was the first practicing Orthodox Jewish player to be selected in the MLB draft. He played for Team Israel in the 2023 World Baseball Classic in Miami, Florida.

Early life

Steinmetz was born in Queens, New York, to Elliot Steinmetz and Sima Steinmetz, and grew up in Woodmere, New York. His father played college basketball for Yeshiva University, is a practicing lawyer, and has been the head men's coach for the Yeshiva University Maccabees basketball team since 2014; his mother is an accountant. He was raised as a Modern Orthodox Jew, and his family is a member of Young Israel of Woodmere in Long Island.

He started playing baseball with the Young Israel of Woodmere team in the shul league. He then switched to the Elev8 Baseball Academy in Delray Beach, Florida in March 2021, for two months, after his last season of high school ball with HAFTR was cancelled due to the pandemic. Perfect Game listed him as the No. 88 overall prospect (including players from college, junior college, and high school) in the 2021 MLB Amateur Draft. He signed for a below-slot $500,000. He was the first practicing Orthodox Jewish player to be selected by a major league team.

Arizona scouting director Deric Ladnier said the team liked his "delivery, body, spin rates, plus-velo.... a curveball that ... as far as the spin rates ... it's legitimately power stuff. And obviously he's got the body and the size and the projection for what you're looking for... [he's] supremely talented... we weren't taking him to make this impactful statement [by drafting an Orthodox Jewish player]. We were taking him because of his physical ability." In 2021 Steinmetz pitched one inning in the minor leagues at 17 years of age for the Arizona Complex League Diamondbacks.

In January 2022, Steinmetz was rated Arizona's #25 prospect, and he was noted for his strong curveball (which ESPN described as "knee-buckling") and a 97-mph fastball. In 2022, he pitched for the Arizona Complex League Diamondbacks at 18 years of age. He was 0–7 with a 7.88 ERA in 11 games (7 starts). He pitched 24 innings and struck out 27 batters (10.1 strikeouts per 9 innings).

Steinmetz spent the 2023 season with the Class-A Visalia Rawhide, where he went 1–10 with a 6.19 ERA, walking 5.4 batters per nine innings. Returning to Visalia in 2024, he posted a 3.60 ERA over 10 starts with a strikeout rate of 10.6 per nine innings and a walk rate of 3.1, and was promoted to the High-A Hillsboro Hops in mid-June. He made 13 starts for Hillsboro, finishing with a 4.37 ERA.

Personal life Steinmetz hails from Woodmere, New York and is Orthodox Jewish, keeping the Jewish Sabbath (which runs from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday—during which time he will play, but walk to and from the stadium, and not ride in a car, bus, or plane), and eats only kosher food.

The Diamondbacks and Steinmetz put in a lot of effort in order to accommodate his religion and baseball such as the ordering of kosher food.