Mariners select switch-pitcher with first-round pick in MLB Draft

The Seattle Mariners have developed a reputation for drafting and developing pitchers, but they’ve never had a pitching prospect quite like this.

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With the No. 15 overall pick, the Mariners selected Mississippi State switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje in the first round of the MLB Draft on Sunday.

Yes, you read that correctly. The 21-year-old Dutch native can pitch with both arms, touching 98 mph with his right arm and 93 with his left.

He’s a baseball unicorn.

But according to Mariners scouting director Scott Hunter, their decision to draft Cijntje went well beyond his ambidextrous talent.

“It was a piece of the puzzle,” Hunter said. “I think it was more about his ability. Like, what could we do with a guy that’s able to do this physically? Because it must take some real special athleticism and body control. You sit down with the kid, he speaks five languages. There’s so many unique factors that are away from the field that, if a kid could do something special, this might be the one that can.”

The @Mariners drafted quite the unique prospect in ambidextrous pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje 🔁#MLBDraft | #TridentsUp pic.twitter.com/A2VSmUlKpZ

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) July 15, 2024

Switch pitchers have been an extreme rarity in MLB history. The only one who did so consistently was journeyman reliever Pat Venditte, who made 61 relief appearances in the majors between 2015 and 2020.

Cijntje (pronounced SAIN-jah) throws significantly harder than Venditte, who as a 45th-round pick was not nearly as highly regarded of a prospect.

“He’s got better stuff than Venditte from both sides and he’s legit,” MLB Pipeline senior writer Jim Callis said last week when he joined host Curtis Rogers for an appearance on Seattle Sports’ Extra Innings. “… He gets compared to (two-time All-Star) Marcus Stroman right-handed. I mean, he’s got that kind of stuff.”

Hunter said the Mariners plan to let Cijntje decide whether to keep throwing from both sides, at least initially.

“We’re gonna sit down with him and see how he would like to attack it,” Hunter said. “There is a huge advantage if he does do both. I don’t think it’ll be a true left today, right tomorrow. It’s more about maybe picking matchups and seeing how it works in the minor leagues. But it is definitely an option that’s on the table to keep it going.”

‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen this’

As a right-hander, Cijntje sports a four-pitch mix. His fastball sits in the mid-90s and touches 98 mph, while his mid-80s slider is also a plus pitch, according to MLB.com. He also has a developing changeup and curveball, according to Hunter.

“He gets a lot of action on his four-seam fastball, and he doesn’t even use a two-seamer yet,” Hunter said. “… And he’s already got a plus slider. Our pitching development guys think we can create even more action to that. And the changeup, which wasn’t used much during the year, is something that could be an equalizer.

“A guy that can throw 98 miles an hour, make the ball move to both sides of the plate and obviously spin the baseball the way he can, we really believe he’s gonna thrive in the programs we have already set for our pitching group.”

Cijntje throws from a lower arm slot on the left side, where he mixes a low-90s fastball with a low-80s sweeping slider.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen this in my lifetime in scouting, let alone as a player, someone who can just pick up a baseball in between an inning and go, ‘All right, I’ll (switch and) throw 93 miles an hour with my left hand now,'” Hunter said.

After a rough freshman season at Mississippi State in 2023, the 5-foot-11, 200-pound Cijntje bounced back with a strong sophomore campaign this spring. He posted a 3.67 ERA with 113 strikeouts and 30 walks in 90 2/3 innings, while logging a 1.10 WHIP and .211 opponent batting average.

During his two college seasons, Cijntje typically threw right-handed against righty batters and left-handed against lefty batters. However, after feeling some discomfort from the left side midway through this season, he began throwing solely right-handed. He said he’s feeling good now and is back to throwing with both arms.

“If I get the opportunity, I would like to to stay (pitching) from both sides,” Cijntje said.

‘Just scratching the surface’

Born in the Netherlands, Cijntje primarily grew up on the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao. He was a natural left-hander, but began throwing right-handed at age 6 because he wanted to emulate his father, Mechangelo, who played professionally in the Netherlands.

Cijntje first drew international acclaim back in 2016, when he played in the Little League World Series as a member of Curaçao’s team. At age 16, he moved to Miami and attended high school there. Hunter said Cijntje was on the Mariners’ radar back in 2022, when he was drafted in the 18th round by the Milwaukee Brewers but opted instead to play college ball at Mississippi State.

Given that Cijntje played just two seasons in college, Hunter said the Mariners believe there’s still an abundance of untapped potential.

“We just looked at him and there were so many things lining up to say, this kid could have such a big upside, and we’re just scratching the surface of where he’s at,” Hunter said.

Over the previous three drafts, the Mariners used all five of their first-round picks on high school position players. That enabled them to build a stockpile of position-player talent in their farm system, which is on display with Seattle having six position-player prospects ranked in Baseball America’s Top 100.

The Mariners hope Cijntje can help them restock their pitching pipeline. Cijntje is the first pitcher Seattle has drafted in the first round since Emerson Hancock in 2020, which came on the heels of fellow first-round pitchers George Kirby in 2019 and Logan Gilbert in 2018. All three have reached the majors, with the latter two having already earned All-Star selections.

“I want to say thank to (the Mariners),” Cijntje said. “I will be grateful for them to give me this chance and I’m ready to go to work.”

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