With the 15th overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, the Seattle Mariners selected switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje from Mississippi State University — their first of two selections (No. 55) from T-Mobile Park on Sunday night.
That’s right: the 21-year-old from Willemstad, Curacao, tops 93 mph with both arms and up to 98 mph with his right hand, leaving Seattle executives more than bullish on Cijntje’s potential and upside.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen this in my lifetime of scouting, let alone as a player,” Mariners senior director of amateur scouting Scott Hunter said. “Someone who can just pick up a baseball in between an inning, and go, ‘All right, I’ll throw 93 with my left arm now.’ And he can do that.”
Ranked the No. 25 draft prospect by MLB.com, Cijntje went 8-2 with a 3.67 ERA in 16 starts for Mississippi State, including a career-high 11 strikeouts at Vanderbilt on April 28, 2024. He was a natural left-hander until age 6 when Cijntje picked up a right-handed glove in hopes to emulate his father, Mechangelo, then a professional player in The Netherlands.
The rest is history.
“I like the way (the Mariners) care about their players,” Cijntje told reporters. “How they develop them, especially with pitchers.”
Seattle scouted him as early as 2022 when Cijntje was still in high school, but he did not sign when the Milwaukee Brewers selected him in the 18th round of that year’s draft.
Instead, a two-year stint at Mississippi State, which allowed for a pair of Hunter’s scouting trips. The first “wasn’t so great,” Hunter said, one of Cijntje’s rougher outings of the 2024 campaign. The context of Cijntje’s blistered finger spurred Hunter’s return for a second “electric” performance, enough to skyrocket the dual-armed pitcher up their wish list.
“As a room, we started looking at all of the pieces of information, and really decided this is a great fit for what our pitching program can do and has done in the past,” Hunter said.
There’s more power from Cijntje’s right side – where he tops 98 mph – as well as increased crispness for his four-pitch mix. He threw exclusively with his right arm in his final handful of Mississippi State starts, but recently threw a left-handed bullpen session and plans to develop both arms.
His best pitch? Cijntje says it’s the slider, from both sides.
“For now,” he said. “But I think the changeup can get way better than the slider.”
Will Cijntje throw with both arms in the Seattle organization? It’s up to him, at least for the beginning of his career, Hunter said. Expect more calculated decisions, determined upon matchups in the minor leagues.
Cijntje appeared in the 2016 Little League World Series with Curacao. He went on to be named to the 2023 First-Year SEC Academic Honor Roll and 2024 ABCA/Rawlings South All-Region First Team. He was a 2024 Second Team Perfect Game All-American.
“Dynamic mover,” Hunter said. “A kid that we’ve seen since high school in 2022, two years at Mississippi State.
“And he just keeps getting better.”
Following the conclusion of the second round on Sunday night, the 2024 Draft continues Monday for Rounds 3-10 at 11 a.m. PT.
Rounds 11-20 are held Tuesday.
MARINERS SELECT RYAN SLOAN AT NO. 55 OVERALL
The Mariners exit Day 1 of the 2024 MLB Draft with a pair of pitchers they consider first-round talents — particularly after selecting RHP Ryan Sloan with the 55th overall pick Sunday night.
Seattle pulled from a talented preps pool to grab Sloan, the 19th-ranked prospect by MLB.com, after he fell more than 30 selections below his initial projection. Sloan, 18, posted a 0.39 ERA (2 ER, 46.2 IP) with 90 strikeouts and five walks for York Community High School as a senior (Elmhurst, IL) and was named the 2024 Gatorade Illinois Player of the Year.
“To watch him slip a little bit… we just kept (in) touch with the agent,” Hunter said. “We’re going to have to get a little creative with our bonus pool, but it’s definitely a pick well worth doing.
“It’s worth the risk.”
Sloan had committed to Wake Forest University, but was already in Mariners garb when Hunter reached him over a Sunday-night FaceTime call.
“I think we’re in a pretty good spot,” Hunter said. “It’ll [a deal will] get done fairly quick.”
The 6-foot-5, 220-pound right-hander flashes a three-pitch mix that includes 60-grade fastballs and changeups. The Mariners project him as a “top-of-the-line starter,” Hunter said.
Added Hunter: “For a young high-school pitcher to (have) this kind of maturity, he’s another one that we’re just excited about putting into our program and seeing what happens.”
MARINERS FIRST-ROUND PICKS, BY YEAR
2024 — RHP/LHP Jurrangelo Cijntje, No. 15 overall
2023 — SS Colt Emerson, No. 22 overall; OF Jonny Farmelo, No. 29 overall; SS Tai Peete, No. 30 overall
2022 — SS Cole Young, No. 21 overall
2021 — C Harry Ford, No. 12 overall
2020 — RHP Emerson Hancock, No. 6 overall
2019 — RHP George Kirby, No. 20 overall
2018 — RHP Logan Gilbert, No. 14 overall
2017 — 1B Evan White, No. 17 overall
2016 — OF Kyle Lewis, No. 11 overall
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