The Seattle Mariners drafted pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje out of Mississippi State with the No. 15 general choose within the 2024 MLB Draft. Cijntje hails from the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao, and his father was an expert baseball participant as a catcher within the Netherlands. That’s a cool backstory already, however it’s hardly what makes Cijntje so fascinating.
Cijntje is the uncommon “swap pitcher,” a phenomenon that has hardly ever been seen all through baseball’s everlasting historical past. Because the story goes, Cijntje was born a pure lefty, however he wished to be like his dad, who threw along with his proper hand. Cijntje discovered the best way to do each. He performed within the Little League World Sequence in 2016, after which moved to Miami for the tip of highschool profession, the place he earned scholarship gives as a swap hitter and swap pitcher.
Cijntje took the mound on Friday night time because the Mariners confronted the Cleveland Guardians in MLB Spring Coaching. He confirmed off his ambidextrous pitching within the fifth profitable, when he adopted a 92 MPH lefty pitch with a 95 MPH proper pitch. Watch the video of Cijntje’s ultra-rare switch-pitching right here:
What’s so cool about Cijntje is that he has a distinct arsenal relying on the hand. As a righty, he throws a fastball within the mid-90s, a slider within the 80s, and a changeup. As a lefty, he depends extra on a fastball within the low 90s and extra of a sweeper within the low 80s. Cijntje throws tougher and extra precisely as a rightly, however he can induce extra groundballs throwing along with his left arm.
MLB Change Pitcher historical past and guidelines
MLB reportedly had just a few swap pitchers within the nineteenth century, however went nearly all the twentieth century with out one till Greg A. Harris did it with the Montreal Expos in his second-to-last recreation in 1995.
Baseball didn’t actually see a swap pitcher till Pat Venditte broke into the majors in 2015 at age-30. Venditte spent 5 years and pitched 72.1 innings throughout his Main League profession, and he’s maybe greatest recognized for getting MLB to instate a rule about swap pitchers. The “Pat Venditte Rule” primarily states that pitchers can’t change arms whereas going through the identical batter. The pitcher should point out to the batter and umpire which hand he’s pitching with, and might’t change arms till that batter is retired.
Venditte was the journeyman within the truest sense of the phrase. What makes Cijntje so thrilling is that he was proficient sufficient to be a first-round choose, and will finally emerge as a reliable Main League pitcher or possibly even a star.
You possibly can learn extra on Cijntje’s background right here. He’s prone to begin the season within the minors, however right here’s hoping it received’t be lengthy earlier than we see this swap pitcher on the MLB degree.
