3 unique draft prospects for the Pittsburgh Pirates to keep on their radar

Jurrangelo Cijntje

One of the rarest feats in baseball is the switch-pitcher. The only player in the modern age to do it consistently was Pat Venditte, who appeared in five seasons from 2015 through 2020. He only pitched 72.2 innings as a reliever with an 87 ERA+. But this year's draft might end up having the most talented pitcher to ever throw with both hands. That's Mississippi State hurler Jurrango Cijntje.

Cijntje has tossed 83.2 innings, working to a strong 3.55 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, and 3.72 K:BB ratio. The switch-pitcher has struck out just a touch over 30% of the batters he's faced with a 30.9% K rate. Cijntje has done great at cutting down walks. His walk rate was 14.2% last year, but now that's down to 8.3%. Cijntje has an HR/9 of 1.18, which is slightly better than the conference average.

While Cijntje is a switch-pitcher, he does have a better side. He has a brighter outlook as a right-hander as he can throw the mid-90s with an above-average slider and decent change-up. As a lefty, he sits in the lower 90s and doesn't throw the change-up as frequently. His slider is still decent when throwing from the left side, but he projects more as a reliever from that arm.

Cijntje is not a big pitcher. He is only 5'11", 200 pounds, which led to some questions about his durability. As a right-hander, he's drawn comparisons to two-time all-star Marcus Stroman, who is also on the smaller side for a pitcher. Cijntje might work very well as a reliever, able to keep opposing batters off balance with his ability to switch-pitch so any hitters get a good idea what they're looking for. He's also gotten more confrontable facing left-handed batters as a right-handed pitcher this year.

Either way, Cijntje has a chance to be the most talented switch pitcher in professional baseball and a starting pitcher. He's definitely one of the most unique draft prospects, not just this year, but maybe ever. Most updated rankings have him in the top 45 prospects in this year's draft class. The Pirates have the 37th and 42nd overall pick. If he is available, Cijntje is someone that would be very interesting to consider drafting. He'd give a team endless strategies on how to deploy him and take advantage of his switch-pitching prowess.