NY pitcher becomes 1st known drafted practicing Orthodox Jew by Dennis Waszak Jr., The Associated Press Posted Jul 12, 2021 4:51 pm EDT Last Updated Jul 12, 2021 at 4:57 pm EDT MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred kicks off the first round of the 2021 MLB baseball draft, Sunday, July 11, 2021, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) 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. The 6-foot-5, 220-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.