The ‘Mind-Blowing’ Switch Pitcher Who Could Transform Baseball
The major leagues have never seen anything like Mariners prospect Jurrangelo Cijntje, who can throw 99 mph with his right hand and 93 mph as a lefty

Jurrangelo Cijntje is aiming to excel at the highest level as a true switch pitcher.

When Shohei Ohtani arrived in the U.S. with visions of becoming the first two-way Major League Baseball player in a century, few in the sport actually believed the experiment would work.

But the Los Angeles Angels let him try to achieve what was thought to be impossible—and three MVP trophies later, it’s fair to say that Ohtani has proved the doubters wrong.

“Because they had the willingness to do it,” Seattle Mariners assistant general manager Andy McKay says, “we all get to see a generational type of player doing something that is just unbelievable. “

Which brings us to Jurrangelo Cijntje.

Cijntje (pronounced SAIN-ja) is perhaps the top pitching prospect in the Mariners’ organization. That would probably be the case even if he threw exclusively with his right hand.

Except as he begins his professional career, Cijntje aspires for more. He says he wants “to do something that nobody has done before”—by excelling at the highest level as a true switch pitcher.

To watch Cijntje on the mound is like witnessing the aurora borealis in your own backyard. Onlookers can hardly fathom that what they’re seeing is real. As a righty, Cijntje can fire a fastball as hard as 99 mph, along with a quality change up and slider. Then he switches his custom glove to his other hand and throws 93 mph as a lefty.

Never in modern baseball history has there been a player like Cijntje. Pat Venditte appeared in 61 games as a switch pitcher from 2015-2020, but he was a journeyman reliever. Cijntje was the 15th overall pick of last year’s draft and received a signing bonus of nearly $5 million.

The simplest approach would be to have the 21-year-old Cijntje ditch his southpaw aspirations in favor of his stronger side. Justin Parker, Cijntje’s former pitching coach at Mississippi State University, admits that there were times when he would see Cijntje dominating as a righty and think to himself, “Selfishly, don’t go back left-handed.”

That might be what happens eventually. But for now, the Mariners are giving Cijntje a chance to prove whether he too can accomplish something unprecedented, just as the Angels did with Ohtani.

“In his own way,” McKay said, “Jurrangelo might have a similar type of a story.”

Cijntje is perhaps the top pitching prospect in the Mariners’ organization.

Cijntje’s origin is already legendary. Growing up on the Dutch island of Curaçao, he dreamed of being better behind the plate than his father, a professional catcher in the Netherlands.

There was just one problem. “You can’t be better than me,” Cijntje recalls his dad saying, “especially because you’re left-handed.”

So Cijntje went looking for a solution. When he attended his father’s games, he would “accidentally” leave his lefty glove at home so he would have no choice but to use his dad’s mitt instead. It turns out young Jurrangelo could throw pretty well as a right-hander, too.

The ambidextrous pitcher was born.

“Just watching it in person,” Zach Vincej, Cijntje’s current manager on the High-A Everett AquaSox, said, “it’s pretty mind-blowing.”

There is no road map for what the Mariners are attempting with Cijntje, forcing them to devise a development plan from scratch. They are confident that what they’ve settled on will allow Cijntje to continue his progression as a potentially elite righty while balancing his growth as a lefty.

On Saturdays, Cijntje starts and pitches primarily as a righty.

On Saturdays, Cijntje starts and pitches primarily as a righty. Then on Wednesdays, Cijntje comes into the game to pitch to a few batters as a lefty reliever.

As a righty, he has been close to untouchable. Batters have hit just .128 against him through his first four outings. His lefty performance has been far worse. Cijntje has walked 10 of the 25 batters he has faced from that side and surrendered six hits in 15 at-bats, though he does have five strikeouts.

On Wednesdays, Cijntje comes into the game to pitch to a few batters as a lefty reliever.

Cijntje, however, is undeterred. With more experience as a lefty, he says he can be just as effective as he is as a righty.
“His heart is still set on doing both and doing it as long as he can,” Parker said. “Until somebody tells him it’s not working and you have to change it.”

The Mariners hope it never comes to that. Because as a switch pitcher, Cijntje could provide unimaginable value—and they can’t help but think about the possibilities.

Imagine a right-handed ace who can last an entire extra inning because he throws 25 pitches as a lefty. The Mariners believe that is a viable reality.

What’s clear is that Cijntje is already turning heads. At spring training this year, many of the Mariners’ established players made a point to watch Cijntje’s bullpen sessions.

They had to see it for themselves.

“There’s a really good chance,” McKay said, “you’ll never see it again.”

Write to Jared Diamond at jared.diamond@wsj.com