Age: 24 (July 17)
Bats – Left,
Throws – Right
Height: 6’2” Weight: 235
Prior to 2002:
A native of
Texas, Jennings was first drafted as an amateur by the Arizona Diamondbacks out
of Ralph H. Poteet High School in Mesquite. He chose to attend Baylor
University and excelled as a pitcher and hitter, receiving College Player of
the Year recognition from Baseball America in 1999. Drafted in the first round
by the Rockies that year, he was impressive at the Class A short-season level
before moving on to the Asheville Tourists of the Class A South Atlantic League
for the remainder of ’99. He played for Carolina of the Class AA Southern
League in 2000 and moved up to Class AAA Colorado Springs in 2001. He made his
major league debut for the Rockies in August of ’01, pitching a five-hit
shutout against the Mets at New York, and hitting a home run to aid his cause.
Jennings was 4-1 for Colorado in his brief 2001 stint with a 4.58 ERA, earning
a spot in the rotation for 2002.
2002 Season Summary
Appeared in 32
games
[Bracketed
numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]
Pitching
Games – 32
Games Started –
32 [20, tied with five others]
Complete Games
– 0
Wins – 16 [7,
tied with Greg Maddux & Hideo Nomo]
Losses – 8
PCT - .667 [8,
tied with Damian Moss]
Saves – 0
Shutouts – 0
Innings Pitched
– 185.1
Hits – 201 [15, tied with John Thomson]
Runs – 102 [11,
tied with Josh Fogg]
Earned Runs – 93
[13, tied with Curt Schilling]
Home Runs – 26
[12, tied with four others]
Bases on Balls
– 70
Strikeouts – 127
ERA – 4.52
Hit Batters – 8
[15, tied with nine others]
Balks – 0
Wild Pitches – 10
[6, tied with Brandon Duckworth]
Most
strikeouts, game – 9 (in 7 IP) vs. Florida 5/15
10+ strikeout
games – 0
Fewest hits
allowed, game – 1 (in 7 IP) at Pittsburgh 8/1
Batting
PA – 68, AB – 62,
R – 6, H – 19, 2B – 4, 3B – 0, HR – 0, RBI – 11, BB – 3, SO – 13, SB – 0, CS – 0,
AVG - .306, GDP – 0, HBP – 1, SH – 2, SF – 0
Fielding
Chances – 43
Put Outs – 14
Assists – 28
Errors – 1
DP – 1
Pct. - .977
Awards & Honors:
NL Rookie of
the Year: BBWAA
NL ROY Voting (Top
5):
Jason Jennings,
Col.: 150 pts. – 27 of 32 first place votes, 94% share
Brad Wilkerson,
Mon.: 57 pts. – 2 first place votes, 36% share
Austin Kearns,
Cin.: 40 pts. – 2 first place votes, 25% share
Kazuhisa Ishii,
LAD.: 16 pts. – 1 first place vote, 10% share
Damian Moss,
Atl.: 12 pts. – 8% share
---
Rockies went 73-89
to finish fourth in the NL Western Division, 25 games behind the
division-winning Arizona Diamondbacks. The pitching staff had the league’s highest
ERA (5.20) and gave up the most runs (898).
Aftermath of 2002:
Jennings
regressed to 12-13 with a 5.11 ERA in 2003 (when the 74-88 club’s ERA was again
5.20) and to 11-12 and 5.51 in ’04 (while the staff as a whole had a 5.54 ERA).
His ERA remained above 5.00 in 2005 but he regained a measure of his early form
in 2006 when he compiled a 9-13 record with a respectable 3.78 ERA with the
81-81 Rockies. Rejecting an offer to extend his contract, Jennings was traded
to Houston in the off-season and the Astros moved him into the bullpen with
mediocre results. Jennings, suffering from a sore arm, moved on to the Texas
Rangers in 2008 and ’09, his last two major league seasons. Efforts to catch on
with other clubs failed and in a comeback in 2011 with the independent minor
league Grand Prairie AirHogs Jennings ended up with a 10-2 record and 3.58 ERA.
Overall for his major league career Jennings compiled a 62-74 record with a
4.95 ERA and 749 strikeouts over the course of 1128.1 innings pitched. His first
and last seasons with the Rockies proved to be the best of a career that commenced
amid great expectations that went unmet.
--
Rookie of the Year Profiles feature players who were recipients of
the Rookie of the Year Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America
(1947 to present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from
its inception through 1948 and from 1949 on to one recipient from each major
league.
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