For the year he posted a 1.48 (2.89 FIP) in 79 innings with 22 BB and 62 K's, 0.86 WHIP. He was a big reason the California bullpen was not the shambles it was predicted to be. A solid, if unexpected 2021 campaign (2.41 ERA but 4.38 FIP in 34 innings) hinted at the possibility that Jennings could contribute again, but no one ever thought he could turn into a lock down reliever, except Jennings.
The now 34 year old Montreal native was originally drafted way back in 2007 by the Crusaders with the 21st overall pick out of highschool, and immediately had an impact in the minors. It was thought at the time that perhaps with the right coaching, the fastball, slider, curveball righty could develop into a starter with the right coaching. He did well in rookie an A ball and was promoted to AA by age 21, where he struggled for a couple seasons before turning in a solid 14 start, 2.66 98 innings in half a season at age 23, prompting a promotion to AAA.
For a long time, the AAA level looked like the ceiling for Jennings, who would spend the rest of his 20's, mostly as a starter, with the Clash City Rockers. While the hard thrower had a decent fastball and slider, he never really developed his curve or got enough life on his fastball to warrant a look at the big league level. Jennings admits, "I was getting ready to call it quits. I'd been though so many coaches who tried to help me with location, or pitch selection, or getting more movement. Nothing seemed to make any difference."
Then one day in the summer of 2018, Jennings was called into then manager Sasha Van Sacken's office after a game. "I thought it was over," says Jennings. "I figured he was going to tell me it had been a nice run, but they needed my roster spot to develop someone with a future." To his surprise, Perry found out that he was going to join the Crusaders who had an open spot in the pen due to injuries and attrition to FA. Added Jennings, "I knew I was being called up because I was expendable and probably wouldn't last long, but I didn't care. After eleven years in the minors, you'd have thought I was some 20 year old can't miss kid, the way I felt." He went on, "I'd been in the minors so long that only Danny and Ginley, even knew who I was. Everybody else thought I was a bullpen attendant or something." "I mean, let's be honest, I've never looked like a prototypical baseball player," noted the 6'0", 240 lb Jennings.
When asked to explain his dramatic improvement, Jennings stated, "Like I said, I'd tried everything. Different grips, tweaking my mechanics, sports psychologists, experimenting with new pitches, diet, workout regimens, but frankly what worked is pretty stupid. I just try to throw harder now. I knew I had to do something big in 2019 to justify [the Crusaders front office] continuing to give me money. I figured, I'm a short innings guy now, and I don't care if I blow my arm out, so let's just reach back and chuck this thing as hard as I can." Somehow this has worked. A 96-98 mph guy for his whole career, with a fastball that was just too flat despite it's velocity, Jennings managed to throw 97-99 in 2019, and last season started hitting 100 mph on the gun for the first time in his life.
It's still unlikely Jennings can repeat his 2022 performance, given his absurdly low BABIP allowed last year. It's also unclear how long his strategy of trying to throw his arm out every time he takes the mound will work. Also, there are some rumors that his newfound velocity isn't legitimate. Noted a rival's pitching coach, "I'm just trying to throw harder? That's asinine. He's gotta be taking something. No one suddenly starts throwing 100 mp at age 34."
