Jurrangelo Cijntje is one of one.
There is no one like the Seattle Mariners’ pitching prospect who is a part of the 2025 MLB Futures Game.
How can that be?
Well, he’s a switch-pitcher.
Cijntje throws with both arms, and he does it impressively. He might be an MLB-level pitcher if he had to settle for tossing from just one side.
But for now, Cijntje is in pursuit of his MLB dreams both right- and left-handed.
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Jurrangelo Cijntje switch-pitching, explained
The Seattle Mariners took Jurrangelo Cijntje in the first round of the 2024 MLB Draft knowing that they essentially wouldn’t know what they were doing with him until they tried it.
So far, their approach has centered on splitting up the workload.
Cijntje makes a weekend appearance as a right-handed starter, then comes on in relief midweek as a lefty.
That’s different than how many may have viewed the approach, in which Cijntje would switch handedness mid-game based on the platoon splits of the guy at the plate.
This current development track, though, allows Cijntje to get consistent workloads with both arms without worrying about unexpected overuse or underuse.
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Is Jurrangelo Cijntje better righty or lefty?
Jurrangelo Cijntje’s stuff plays differently from each side, according to MLB.com.
As a right-hander, he touches 100 miles per hour with his fastball and throws a slider and a changup.
The southpaw version of Cijntje throws up to 94 miles per hour with a sweeper and a lower arm slot.
At High-A Everett, Cijntje has better stats as a right-handed pitcher.
While throwing righty, he has allowed a .186 opponent average. While throwing lefty, Cijntje has allowed a .346 opponent average.
Sample sizes are much bigger with him throwing righty, because that’s the arm he has been a starting pitcher with.
Everett also appears to have limited Cijntje’s chances as a lefty in the last month-plus, which is an interesting side-effect here. Whether for injury or ineffectiveness, Cijntje can essentially be shut down lefty but still be available as a righty.
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Has there been an MLB switch-pitcher?
There has been a switch-pitcher in MLB before.
That was Pat Venditte, who broke through with the Oakland Athletics.
He was very different than Cijntje, though.
Venditte’s fastball didn’t even approach 90 miles per hour, and he was a sidewinder. He also switched which side he was throwing from to match the handedness of the hitter.
If Cijntje makes MLB, he’ll sort of be following Venditte’s footsteps, but really, he’ll be pretty much standing on his own.
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