Who is Jurrangelo Cijntje? Meet the switch-pitching Mississippi State ace, top 2024 MLB Draft prospect

Pat Venditte took the MLB world by storm in the 2015 season with the Athletics.

Baseball fans had rarely before seen a switch pitcher. But Venditte, a 30-year-old reliever, showed off the ability to be a quality bullpen option with the ability to face batters from either side of the plate and pitch against their strength. Still, Venditte did not pitch much in the majors, appearing in 61 games over five seasons in the big leagues and posting a 4.73 ERA. He last pitched in 2020 with the Marlins.

Now, a new both-handed hurler has emerged in college baseball. Jurrangelo Cijntje was a mid-round prospect in the 2022 MLB Draft class, and after he was selected by the Brewers in the 18th round, he decided to go to Mississippi State.

The switch-pitching ability did not help him much as a freshman as he posted an 8.10 ERA in 14 games (13 starts). It's been a different story as a sophomore. Cijntje has been a standout on the mound for the Bulldogs, pitching to a 3.55 ERA.

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The season has done more than helped to give the Bulldogs with a unique ace; it has propelled Cijntje into first-round consideration for the 2024 MLB Draft as a draft-eligible sophomore.

Here's what you need to know about Cijntje.

Who is Jurrangelo Cijntje?

Cijntje is a switch-pitching, 21-year-old starting pitcher for Mississippi State.

Baseball has long been a fixture for Cijntje. His dad is Mechangelo Cijntje, who was a catcher in the Netherlands. Cijntje, naturally left handed, enjoyed trying on his dad's glove, according to MLB Pipeline, so his dad had him work on throwing balls with nails in them at a tire to try and improve his accuracy and get the baseball to stick in the tire.

As he grew up, Cijntje played catcher and shortstop, both positions that are predominantly right-handed, which meant he developed more strength in his right arm over the years.

The Cijntje family moved to Curacao when Mechangelo Cijntje's Netherlands career ended, per ESPN, and there Cijntje started to earn more recognition as a player. Cijntje became internationally recognized when he pitched for Curacao, and helped lead the country to the Little League World Series. Curacao, a country under the Kingdom of the Netherlands, fell to Korea, beat Japan, then was eliminated against Australia on the international stage. At the time, Cijntje was only pitching right-handed.

This is Jurrangelo Cijntje, who Florida will face tonight. He pitched in the LLWS for Curaçao at 12 years old and struck out 14 batters. Oh, and he’s a switch pitcher. pic.twitter.com/jQpQEW3fFb

— Nick Marcinko (@marcinko_nick) March 30, 2024

When Cijntje came to Miami to live with a cousin, his coach thought he looked good enough to pitch from both sides, per ESPN. As a pitcher at Champagnat Catholic High, he started to go viral for his switch-pitching abilities. He had a 2.32 ERA with 166 strikeouts with just 39 hits and 31 walks allowed over 81 innings. That attention reached Venditte, who reached out to Cijntje.

"I have talked to him several times, the last time was just two weeks ago," Jurrangelo said, per ESPN. "He just told me, 'Remember, you've just got to keep doing your thing.' But he's also really nice, like, I can't say much to you because you throw it way harder than me."

Cijntje was considered a mid-round draft prospect in 2022 as an undersized pitcher who stood out more for his right-handed pitches than his left-handed stuff, even if he could throw it up to 90 mph from the left side. 

"Being able to throw 90 mph with both hands puts Cijntje in a massively small circle of players, and he also has a slider around 80 mph from the right side that gives him an average secondary," Baseball America wrote of Cijntje. "He throws a slower, mid-70s curveball from the left side. Unlike many ambidextrous pitchers, Cijntje has real touch and feel with both arms and could be a legitimate two-way pitcher at Mississippi State if he makes it to campus."

Cijntje was taken 552nd overall by the Brewers as most teams expected him to wind up forgoing the draft and instead go to Mississippi State. 

He largely struggled in his true freshman season, posting an 8.10 ERA across 50 innings in his first season with the team. But he has been an ace in his sophomore campaign, posting a 3.55 ERA and an 8-2 record across his 15 starts.

And Cijntje is now viewed as a possible first-round draft pick. On 2024 MLB Draft rankings, he's rated No. 31 by MLB Pipeline, No. 40 by Baseball America and No. 15 by The Athletic.

On Cijntje, MLB Pipeline described Cijntje as having a chance to get to the big leagues and throw from both sides, even if he has predominantly pitched right-handed at Mississippi State, including against some left-handed hitters. It notes Cijntje throws a fastball, slider and changeup as a right-hander, topping at 98 mph, while he has a sweeping breaking ball and low-90s fastball from the left side.

"You have to treat each arm different," Jurrangelo told ESPN. "Everything isn't the same. You've got to use different muscle memory from each side. Say if I throw my breaking ball better on the right side, that depends on which arm angle I want to throw it from. That angle won't work the same from the left. It's two totally different approaches to the same thing by the same person. That is not easy until you have just done it so much that it becomes normal. So, yes, your mind has to work differently, I believe, to do that."

Jurrangelo Cijntje pronunciation

The Mississippi State media guide lists his name as being pronounced Jur-rainge-uh-lo SAIN-ja.

Jurrangleo Cijntje glove

Like past switch-pitchers, Cijntje has a unique two-handed glove that will allow him to alternate as needed while he's pitching.

Jurrangelo Cijntje is an ambidextrous pitcher for Mississippi State

He throws 90+ MPH with both arms and has a custom righty-lefty glove 🤯 pic.twitter.com/VWCBjm5a1E

— MLB (@MLB) April 19, 2024

Jurrangelo Cijntje stats