Ambidextrous prospect Jurrangelo Cijntje has spent most of this season pitching right-handed for Double-A Springfield. But batters still need to be prepared to see the lefty version, too. Wichita’s Garrett Spain was reminded of that on Saturday.
Cijntje (St. Louis’ No. 4 prospect / MLB's No. 86 overall) faced Spain twice and struck him out both times -- once with his left arm and once with his right arm.
The switch-pitcher racked up six K’s altogether over five innings for Springfield in Game 1 of a doubleheader Saturday against the Wind Surge at Route 66 Stadium.
Cijntje allowed three runs on three hits (two homers) and two walks in the outing, throwing 90 pitches before exiting with the score tied 3-3. The game was later suspended due to rain in the top of the seventh inning.
While Cijntje finishes May with a 4.68 ERA, it was still an encouraging month for the 23-year-old. Cijntje faced 107 batters during May and struck out 35 of them with 12 walks, improving his K/BB ratio to 2.92 after notching a 1.71 K/BB ratio (24 strikeouts, 14 walks) with a 5.82 ERA in April.
Acquired from the Mariners in the Brendan Donovan trade this past offseason, Cijntje has thrown right-handed against 193 of the 207 batters he's faced this season. But while Seattle was prepared to close the book on the switch-pitching experiment before the trade, St. Louis hasn't followed suit.