Current:Home > ScamsRare switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje 'down to do everything' for Mariners after MLB draft-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
Rare switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje 'down to do everything' for Mariners after MLB draft
View Date:2024-12-23 18:45:00
FORT WORTH, Texas – Jurrangelo Cijntje was 7 or 8 years old when he started throwing right-handed, for the most wholesome and relatable reason.
“I wanted,” he said Sunday night, a Seattle Mariners jersey dangling from his frame, “to be like my dad.”
That unlikely road yielded the biggest dividend Sunday, when the Mariners selected Cijntje with the 15th overall pick in the Major League Baseball draft – in part because of his ability to pitch both right- and left-handed.
Know this: Cijntje is no Pat Venditte. The majors’ most recent ambidextrous pitcher was a serviceable reliever a decade ago. He did not run his fastball up to 97 mph, sitting at 95 with a handful of delectable secondary offerings to beguile hitters.
Nor did he sit at 93 mph with his off hand, physical facets that were unimaginable when Cijntje began his journey in the Netherlands, to Curacao and finally Mississippi State, where he struck out 113 batters in 90 innings over 16 starts this season.
Follow every MLB game: Latest MLB scores, stats, schedules and standings.
He was projected as a supplemental or second-round pick for most of the spring, but picked up “helium,” as evaluators say, late in the process and on Sunday was, surprisingly, the third pitcher off the board overall.
The Mariners, highly skilled at developing pitching talent, will get a pitcher who simply applies recovery methods to both sides of his body. If he takes a hot or cold tub after a game, he makes sure both arms get a good soak. And doubles all his arm care.
Cijntje made no promises of how quickly he’d move through the Mariners system, professing he will “stay in the moment” always, through every rung of the minors. He grew up idolizing Curacaoan center fielder Andruw Jones, but now counts Atlanta’s Ozzie Alibes as his favorite from his island.
At 5-11, Cijntje says he models himself after Yankees right-hander Marcus Stroman, who at 5-8 would look up just a bit at Cijntje.
Yet there truly is no model. And Cijntje is quietly adamant that he will try to give the Mariners a frontline starting pitcher to add to their stable – and a lefty reliever when they get in a jam.
“I will be down to do everything,” he says, “especially to help them win.”
veryGood! (164)
Related
- Tampa Bay Rays' Wander Franco arrested again in Dominican Republic, according to reports
- Horoscopes Today, December 11, 2023
- More foods have gluten than you think. Here’s how to avoid 'hidden' sources of the protein.
- Family of man who died after police used a stun gun on him file lawsuit against Alabama city
- Falling scaffolding plank narrowly misses pedestrians at Boston’s South Station
- Malaysian leader appoints technocrat as second finance minister in Cabinet shuffle
- Florida school board may seek ouster of Moms for Liberty co-founder over Republican sex scandal
- Denver Broncos QB Russell Wilson and singer Ciara welcome daughter Amora Princess
- CFP bracket prediction: SEC adds a fifth team to field while a Big Ten unbeaten falls out
- Wind speeds peaked at 150 mph in swarm of Tennessee tornadoes that left 6 dead, dozens injured
Ranking
- Kalen DeBoer, Jalen Milroe save Alabama football season, as LSU's Brian Kelly goes splat
- Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton working his way into the NBA MVP race
- Prince Harry ordered to pay Daily Mail over $60K in legal fees following failed court challenge
- Honey Boo Boo's Anna Chickadee Cardwell Privately Married Eldridge Toney Before Her Death at 29
- Democrat George Whitesides wins election to US House, beating incumbent Mike Garcia
- Golden Globes announce 2024 nominations. See the full list of nominees.
- Imprisoned accomplice in shooting of then-NFL player’s girlfriend dies
- Skier triggers avalanche on Mount Washington, suffers life-threatening injury
Recommendation
-
Who is Rep. Matt Gaetz, the Florida congressman Donald Trump picked to serve as attorney general?
-
Mashed potatoes can be a part of a healthy diet. Here's how.
-
Horse and buggy collides with pickup truck, ejecting 4 buggy passengers and seriously injuring 2
-
Jennifer Aniston Reveals She Was Texting Matthew Perry Hours Before His Death
-
Lunchables get early dismissal: Kraft Heinz pulls the iconic snack from school lunches
-
Denver Broncos QB Russell Wilson and singer Ciara welcome daughter Amora Princess
-
Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton working his way into the NBA MVP race
-
Man sues NYC after he spent 27 years in prison, then was cleared in subway token clerk killing