Seattle Mariners switch-pitching prospect returns to mound

Seattle Mariners switch-pitching prospect Jurrangelo Cijntje tossed four strong innings in his first start since tweaking his ankle over a week ago.

Cijntje, whose scheduled start on Wednesday was pushed back, threw 53 pitches, struck out six and allowed an unearned run and three hits in the High-A Everett AquaSox’s 3-2 win over the Spokane Indians on Saturday night.

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After the the first two batters of the game reached on a single and an error, Cijntje retried 12 of the next 14 batters he faced. The 2024 first-round pick pitched right-handed to all but one batter. He allowed a double the only time he pitched left-handed.

One of Cijntje’s six strikeouts came against Charlie Condon, who’s ranked as the No. 23 prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline and was the No. 3 overall pick by the Colorado Rockies in last year’s draft.

Cijntje, ranked as the No. 8 prospect in the Mariners’ farm system and No. 86 in all of baseball, was making his first start since suffering a minor ankle injury covering first base on June 11. That start was the Mississippi State product’s first after he left a May 31 game early with a vibrating sensation in his right triceps.

“He said he had it a couple times in college (and) it was never a big deal,” Mariners general manager Justin Hollander said of Cijntje’s triceps issue last Friday. “We obviously skipped a start, had him throw a bullpen and then throw an aggressive live (bullpen) to make sure that the symptoms weren’t reproducible. He felt good.”

With no earned runs allowed Saturday, Cijntje lowered his ERA to 4.28. He has a 4-3 record with a 1.22 WHIP and 54 strikeouts over 48 1/3 innings in 14 appearances (11 starts).

Cijntje made three relief appearances between starts in April with the focus being on developing his pitching as a southpaw. He struggled in those outings, surrendering nine runs over two innings. The Mariners have since shifted to a starter-only focus for their unique pitching prospect. In his 11 starts, Cijntje has 2.72 ERA and 1.04 WHIP.

“I think what we want to do moving forward is kind of shift more to just the starter version of this and learn how to blend the left hand into those outings, and then also give him a true bullpen in the middle to work on things and develop,” pitching strategist Trent Blank told Seattle Sports Mariners insider Shannon Drayer last month.

“We had one where we wanted to speed up the development side through the game, now we’re going to shift it back to give him a break from the left side from a workload standpoint and then also give him some just true development reps in the bullpen.”

Seattle Mariners switch-pitching prospect returns to mound

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