Jurrangelo Cijntje is making a name for himself as one of the most unique pitchers in the world. The 19-year-old true freshman pitcher at Mississippi State is ambidextrous and has been showing off his remarkable skill set since making his first collegiate start on Wednesday.
Cijntje, a native of Curacao and Pembroke Pines, Florida, is just 5-foot-11 and 170 pounds but has already been on the radar of MLB scouts. He was drafted in the 18th round of last year’s MLB draft by the Milwaukee Brewers, but he opted to stick with his commitment to Mississippi State and enroll in classes.
In Wednesday’s game against Louisiana-Monroe, Cijntje threw four scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing just one hit. Six of his strikeouts came as a right-handed pitcher, the other as a lefty. It’s entirely matchup dependent. Cijntje throws righty against right-handed batters and lefty against left-handed batters. He tops 90 miles per hour on the radar gun from both sides.
Cijntje is a natural lefty, but throws harder righty. He began throwing right-handed as a 6-year-old while mimicking his father, who is right-handed. He first gained notoriety for his switch-pitching when he played for Curacao at the 2016 Little League World Series.
“I’m natural from the left side, but I think I throw harder from the right side because I was [catching and playing shortstop] my whole life,” Cijntje said. “Two years ago, I moved to Miami and started throwing with my left hand and my coach thought I was a good both-hand pitcher, so that’s how I started working back on my left hand again.”
Cijntje throws with a greater velocity and uses a slider as a right-hander. When pitching left-handed, he incorporates a curveball into his arsenal.
If Cijntje reaches the major leagues, he’ll be the first switch-pitcher to play in the big leagues since Pat Venditte in 2015. Venditte pitched for six teams over that span and posted a career earned-run average of 4.73 in 72.1 innings pitched.
Currently, Cijntje has pitched five innings and hasn’t allowed a run. Along the way, he has eight strikeouts, just one walk and has allowed three hits. It’s a strong way to start a college career, and we’ll get to enjoy him playing against SEC competition for the next few years before he moves on to a bigger stage.
