Seattle Mariners Select RHP Jurrangelo Cijntje in the First Round of the 2024 MLB Draft

The switch pitcher makes his way to the PNW

With their first of two selections on Day One of MLB draft, the Seattle Mariners selected Jurrangelo Cijntje, a switch pitcher out of Mississippi State. Cijntje (pronounced sain - jah) is a player that we had discussed at length in yesterday’s pre-draft podcast and has been on the Seattle radar for quite some time. A native of Curaçao, Cijntje is an elite athlete and can pitch well into the 90’s with both hands. He’s easily the most unique player in the entire class and is sure to provide a massive amount of intrigue to this system.

Having identified him coming out high school in 2022, the organization was forced to pass on him due to his strong college commitment; however they have closely monitored him since joining the Bulldogs. Having taken a significant jump this year, Cijntje was a draft eligible sophomore and turned 21 just six weeks ago. For a college arm, he’s got some youth on his side.

Most evaluators expect Cijntje to focus on pitching exclusively as a right hander, however the Mariners have stated they are going to let Jurrangelo decide how he approaches this at the next level. The right side is much sharper and the stuff is louder, but the ability to throw left handed at the level he can provides him a unique tool he could perhaps deploy sparingly to gain an advantage. I would expect Cijntje to test the waters with both arms in his draft season, but I ultimately expect him to primarily pitch from the right side.

His arsenal features a fastball with carry through the zone as well as a tight slider, a changeup, and a curveball. His fastball/slider combination was his bread and butter in college, but the fact he’s been able to throw a variety of pitches with some success bodes well for his future ability to start. Per Scouting Director Scott Hunter, “When we sat with him at the combine and discussed his pitches, he gets a lot of action on his four seam fastball, and he doesn’t even use a two seamer yet. Introducing a two seamer, that he actually has a natural feel for without even holding the grip, really excites us.” It’s a smaller frame at just 5’11/200lb, but this allows him to throw from a lower release height that lets his fastball play up at the top of the zone.

With his innate athleticism, it’s easy to envision Jurrangelo with a high octane arsenal after some professional development. Per Hunter, “There are so many things lining up to say this kid could have such a big upside, and we’re just scratching the surface of where he’s at. I’m not saying it’s like a high school arm because high school arms have a lot of risk as well, but when you look at this one, we saw more projection than the average college guy that comes out of the draft.”

Cijntje is maybe less polished than the other collegiate first round arms, but that might work in the Mariners’ favor as there’s more development that lies ahead for him, and the Mariners feel comfortable they can maximize his skillset. Without an official announcement, we won’t know what his exact bonus amount will be, but my expectation would be a deal that puts him below the slot value of ~4.9 million. This scenario would allow them to grab some higher upside players in the later rounds, a boon for a team with little draft capital. Cijntje is a very “Mariner-esque” pitcher that should provide them with some nice traits to maximize in their organization renowned for their ability to do exactly that. Plus, who doesn’t want to root for this Little League legend?

While East Carolina pitcher Trey Yesavage, one of the more popular mock draft target for the M’s, was surprisingly available for the Mariners to select, the Mariners stuck with Cijntje, confident in the amount of time they’d invested in scouting him. They like Cijntje as a unique player but also a unique person: born in the Netherlands and raised in Curaçao, he speaks five languages (English, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, and Papiamentu) and used to deliberately leave his glove at home so he could use his dad’s opposite-handed glove and work on his switch-pitching abilities. When speaking about his personality in-game, Hunter recalled one of the times he watched Cijntje in person: “I watched this kid for seven innings at the University of Virginia, a big game, and it never looked like he broke a sweat... there’s a calm demeanor about him that, even when you watch him pitch, it’s like he’s playing catch. He just has that kind of like mentality.”

Pick 55 is next, marking the end of Seattle’s day one.