July 9, 2021
By: Dwayne Page
Former DeKalb County High School pitching standout Steven Jennings has been promoted to another level in the Pittsburg Pirates minor league system.
Jennings learned Tuesday night that he was being called up to the AA (Double-A) Altoona Curve in Altoona, Pennsylvania. He is scheduled to make his first pitching start there Sunday.
This is the second promotion for Jennings in recent weeks. In early June Jennings was called up to the “High A’ Greensboro Hornets after starting the year repeating Single-A ball at Bradenton, Florida.
After his call-up to Greensboro, Jennings went 3-0 with a 3.20 ERA while throwing 19.2 (19 2/3) innings. He walked three, struck out 12 hitters and allowed 17 hits in his brief time on the Greensboro roster. The batting average against Jennings was only .227.
Between the two teams, Jennings is 5-0 on the year with a 3.00 ERA in 36 innings pitched, with 31 strikeouts.
Jennings was the 42 pick of the 2017 Major League Baseball Draft after a standout career at DCHS.
According to a report earlier this year on rumbunter.com, “Jennings’s best tool is his command. FanGraphs sees it as a future 60-grade tool. Jennings isn’t a hard thrower, only averaging out at 88-92 MPH and topping out at 93 MPH. However, what is impressive is that Jennings averages 2500 RPM on his fastball. Spin rate started to be recorded in 2015 with the introduction of Statcast and it has become one of the most important parts of analyzing pitchers. This could be Jennings’s key to breaking out. His curveball also averaged 3000 RPM, which helps it dart better. MLB Pipeline also said that he uses his change up to prevent batters from barreling up the ball. They also describe his slider to complement his curve very well.”