If there’s anything better than pitching six shutout innings, it might just be pitching six shutout innings against your former team.
That’s what the switch-pitching Jurrangelo Cijntje did on Saturday night, tossing another strong start at Double-A. He led the Springfield Cardinals to a 6-0 win over the Arkansas Travelers at Dickey-Stephens Park, allowing just two hits and four walks over his six-inning appearance.
It was the first time Cijntje faced the organization that drafted him since being dealt in a three-team deal with Colton Ledbetter, Tai Peete (STL No. 17) and a couple of Draft picks to the Cardinals in exchange for Brendan Donovan this offseason. And despite only spending one season in the Mariners’ system after being selected in the 2024 first round, there were plenty of familiar faces in the batter’s box on Saturday night, including Seattle’s No. 4 prospect Lazaro Montes, who accounted for three of Cijtnje’s seven strikeouts.
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Cijntje, who is now the Cardinals’ No. 4 prospect, notably continued to pitch from both sides of the rubber, which he has been doing more frequently in recent starts. After the Mariners expressed a desire to maximize his potential by allowing him to pitch only right-handed, the Cardinals have allowed the switch-pitching approach to continue. Cijntje pitched left-handed in two at-bats -- both against lefty-hitting designated hitter Hunter Fitz-Gerald -- giving up a single in one, while inducing a groundout in the other.
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MLB’s No. 87 prospect has taken some time to settle in but has improved as the season has progressed. In four starts and 20 innings in May, Cijntje has a 4.50 ERA, down from the 5.82 figure in April. He’s already up to 29 strikeouts for the month with likely another start to go. The 22-year-old is currently just one strikeout shy of the most he’s had in a month in his career, which he set in August of last year -- partially with Arkansas after earning a promotion from High-A Everett.
In a way, it's almost poetic that Cijntje found himself back in Arkansas for arguably his best start of the season.