Cijntje, Rooker Set For MLB All-Star Festivities
July 11, 2025 | Baseball
ATLANTA – Mississippi State Baseball will be well represented during MLB All-Star Week at Truist Park.
Former Diamond Dawg standouts Brent Rooker and Jurrangelo Cijntje – both first round draft picks – are set to participate in several events during the Midsummer Classic. Rooker will compete in Home Run Derby as well as the All-Star Game itself while Cijntje will pitch in the MLB Futures Game.
The MLB Futures Game will kick off the festivities on Saturday at 3 p.m. CT on MLB Network. The Home Run Derby is set for Monday at 7 p.m. on ESPN followed by the All-Star Game on Tuesday at 7 p.m. on FOX.
Rooker is set to make his second All-Star appearance having also been tabbed to the 2023 American League All-Star team. It marks the 30th time an MSU player has been selected to the All-Star game and becomes the seventh Bulldog to become an All-Star multiple times.
The Athletics' slugger will also be the second State player to participate in the Home Run Derby, coincidentally joining fellow SEC Triple Crown winner Rafael Palmeiro. Palmeiro competed in the 1998 and 2004 Home Run Derbys hitting 10 at Coors Field and 14 at Minute Maid Park, respectively.
Rooker is currently tied for eighth in the AL with 19 home runs while hitting .272 with 21 doubles, two triples and 50 runs batted in. He has totaled 98 career homers across his six-year career in the big leagues while also winning the Silver Slugger Award last season.
Cijntje, a switch-pitching sensation, is among 50 prospects chosen to play in the prestigious event. He is currently rated the No. 8 prospect in the Seattle Mariners farm system and the 79th-best prospect overall in pro baseball according to MLB Pipeline.
Cijntje was drafted 15th overall last season and has pitched in 16 games (13) starts for the Everett AquaSox, the Mariners' High-A affiliate. He is currently 4-5 with a 4.95 earned run average, 63 strikeouts and 34 walks across 56 1/3 innings and opposing hitters are batting just .207 against him.
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