Maroon, White, Left And Right
February 24, 2023 | Baseball, Joel Coleman
Jurrangelo Cijntje’s switch-pitching has made him one of the most must-watch players in all of baseball.
STARKVILLE – It was a few months back and Mississippi State head coach Chris Lemonis was chatting with some of the individuals with Wilson Sporting Goods.
The fine folks at Wilson are used to making baseball gloves. Yet they hadn't made very many – if any – like the one they were about to put together.
"I say [to them], 'Guys, this is going to be the most popular glove conversation in college athletics,'" Lemonis recounted.
By now, you might've guessed the glove was for switch-pitching Bulldog Jurrangelo Cijntje (pronounced SAIN-ja). The young man – called simply "Lo" by his teammates – has now worn said glove a couple of times at Dudy Noble Field this season, most recently dazzling over four shutout innings in his first career start against Louisiana-Monroe on Wednesday.
Cijntje struck out seven in the game. He allowed only one hit. Of course, when the game was over, it wasn't so much the glove that was the talk of all of baseball as the hand without it.
Sometimes, Cijntje hurls with the right arm, where he can sit between 94 to 96 miles per hour with his fastball to go along with about an 80 mile-per-hour breaking pitch. Other times, Cijntje swaps his specially-made mitt to the other side and pitches as a southpaw. His velocity is slightly lower as a lefty, but he's just as effective.
Cijntje's ability to throw with either arm with tremendous success has already made him one of the most must-watch players in all of college baseball this season.
"He is special," Lemonis said. "When you talk to people about him, it's like [some think it's a] little bit of a circus act. Everybody just thinks, 'That's so cool.' But it's real."
The early returns are showing just how real it all is. Coming into this weekend's series against Arizona State, Cijntje sports a perfect 0.00 earned run average. He's struck out eight against only one walk. Opponents are batting just .167 against him.
But how did Cijntje get here, to this stage, doing this? This isn't some wiffle ball league in the backyard. This is Southeastern Conference baseball – where it's plenty tough for even those who've thrown with only one hand their entire life.
Cijntje's story began in his home country of Curacao and started a lot like many little boys' tales go. He was sitting back and admiring his dad.
Cijntje is a natural left-hander. However, his father, Mechangelo – who played professionally in the Netherlands – was a right-handed catcher.
Like father, like son.
"When I started playing baseball, I just played outfield and first base because I could only throw with the left hand, but I told my dad I wanted to be just like him," Cijntje said.
Mechangelo went to work. Jurrangelo – at around seven years old – began to learn to throw with his right hand.
"My dad got a ball and put screws in it [in such a way] that I could throw it at a tire and the ball would stick in the tire," Cijntje said. "In Curacao, we don't have medicine balls or any kind of weighted balls to throw. He just put screws in it so the ball could have some weight on it. It helped me be accurate throwing into the tire and strengthened my arm, too."
A funny thing happened. Cijntje worked on his right-arm throwing so much, it became his go-to.
"I really stopped using my left arm," Cijntje said. "I'd use it a little bit, but that's probably why now I have so much strength and confidence on the right side, because I used it more. On the left side though, I still have the same confidence."
While Cijntje had become totally comfortable throwing from both sides, he was still primarily a position player. Sure, he'd pitch some when needed. He notably pitched in the 2016 Little League World Series. But his real talent seemed to be as a middle infielder.
To better showcase his skills, Cijntje moved to America for high school baseball. He lived with his cousin in Florida and played at Champagnat Catholic School in Hialeah.
In the Sunshine State, the attention came for Cijntje – both as a pitcher and shortstop. Those two paths would eventually intersect.
The Milwaukee Brewers selected Cijntje in the 18th round of the MLB Draft last July. Cijntje was faced with a decision. He could go ahead and go pro, or he could head to Mississippi State where he had a scholarship waiting.
It wasn't just a matter of Brewers or Bulldogs. It was also a matter of position. Milwaukee picked Cijntje as a shortstop. He still had a desire to pitch. What would he choose?
"At that time, I talked to my family," Cijntje said. "My cousin told me, 'It's up to you. It's your decision, and at the end of the day, I have your back.' I was like, 'I have the chance to play at Mississippi State at one of the best colleges there is. The stadium is awesome. So is the atmosphere and the fans. So why not go [to MSU]?'"
On the last day Cijntje could sign with the Brewers, he got a call from Lemonis.
"I didn't mess with him, I just called him, and he said, 'Coach, I didn't sign, but they offered a lot of money,'" Lemonis recalled. "I said, 'Well why didn't you sign?'…He said, 'Coach, they wanted me to play shortstop and I want to pitch.' It just shows you how talented he is. There has to be something in his brain that works differently than all of ours."
So here Cijntje is in Starkville and he's thriving early. He's also introducing a diehard baseball fanbase to unique situations on the diamond.
His warm-ups are different.
"I probably throw five or seven pitches from one side, then if I feel good, I just go to the other side and just keep switching and moving back and forth," Cijntje explains.
In-game interactions are different. Say a switch-hitter comes to the plate. Cijntje must declare which arm he's throwing with, then the batter decides whether to hit left or right-handed.
"We have to know analytically which is the toughest for [the batter] to hit off of and [Cijntje] will [indicate], 'I'm going to throw left-handed or right-handed,' or maybe he feels better [throwing] one way," Lemonis said.
Speaking of switch-hitting, don't let it be lost in all this that Cijntje can do that, too – along with still being able to play the field. You remember that special glove of his? Well, he received a normal one as well.
"We also got him a shortstop glove," Lemonis said. "You never know. Just in case."
Whatever Cijntje does is sure to garner attention, just as it did on Wednesday after he shut down ULM.
"One of my teammates told me they had to get off their phone because they couldn't scroll through Instagram or Twitter because, 'I only see you,'" Cijntje said with a smile.
Cijntje doesn't mind the chatter about him. He takes it all in stride. It might be growing, but he's been dealing with the buzz most of his life to one degree or another. It doesn't get to him.
"You can do good today [and get good attention] and then do bad tomorrow and [get negative attention]," Cijntje said. "So, that's the thing. I don't let it get in my head. I just roll with it and keep doing what I'm doing."
Said Lemonis: "He's as chill as you'll find in everything that he does. Nothing's fazed him."
But maybe the most exciting thing about Cijntje is that the best is almost certainly yet to come.
"He's just a competitor," Lemonis said. "It's just easy out there. He'll get hit at times, but he can get a lot better. I think you're going to see a kid that's going to get a lot better with his stuff over time."
He'll get better left-handed. He'll get better right-handed. He'll surely keep being one of the coolest stories in all of sports, no question about it.
There is one big question that lingers though now that Cijntje has settled in as a Bulldog. Which hand would he ring a cowbell with?
"Probably the left one," Cijntje said.
But would it feel just as comfortable in the right hand?
"Yeah," Cijntje said quickly, with no hesitation whatsoever.
Of course it would.
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