Cardinals most unique prospect just got called up to Triple-A

Jurrangelo Cijntje is by far the most unique player in the St. Louis Cardinals organization. Not just because of his unique name, which I'm just finally learning how to spell without double-checking, but because he's a top prospect who happens to throw from both sides. And now he's knocking on the door of an MLB debut after being called up to Triple-A this week.

As a switch-pitcher, Cijntje is looking to accomplish a feat - an MLB debut - that only one other switch-pitcher has accomplished in the modern era (Pat Venditte). Venditte made 61 appearances for six clubs over the course of five Major League seasons, but never quite stuck as a legit option out of someone's bullpen. Cijntje is on track to be a starting pitcher at the Major League level, and has a pretty high ceiling that accompanies that.

Cijntje mostly throws from the right side, but has selectively opted to throw from the left side in games, typically no more than a couple of batters. Before being traded to the Cardinals from the Seattle Mariners in the Brendan Donovan trade this offseason, the Mariners were looking to have Cijntje just pitch from the right side moving forward, and while the Cardinals have mostly followed that transition, they have still allowed him to toy with throwing from the left.

While I wouldn't expect Cijntje to make an MLB debut soon, his promotion to Memphis does represent a significant step in the Cardinals' bigger picture when it comes to pitching development, with now multiple dynamic arms beginning to near their first tastes of big league action.

Jurrangelo Cijntje reprents a new wave of pitching coming for the Cardinals

Cijntje joins Quinn Mathews, MiLB's Pitcher of the Year in 2024, as well as recently promoted Mason Molina and Cardinals 2025 Minor League Pitcher of the Year, Brycen Mautz, as part of the Memphis Redbirds starting rotation. Those three lefties, like Cijntje, are a part of a wave of young pitching making their way up through the Cardinals system that offers upside that the Cardinals may lack right now in St. Louis. That doesn't even include Hunter Dobbins, who isn't a prospect anymore but is an intriguing young arm the Cardinals acquired in the Willson Contreras trade and has made multiple

Cijntje has been much better as of late on the mound, though his season ERA (5.04) may not suggest that. He's had much better command of the baseball as of late, and in two starts and 12 innings of work in July, he's only allowed two runs on four walks and seven hits while striking out 17 batters. Mathews and Cijntje, even more so than Molina and Mautz, are guys who could end up being difference-making arms for St. Louis long-term.

Mathews has been on his own heater as of late, also cleaning up some command issues that plagued him, and now he's dominating on the mound. Over his last eight starts for Memphis, Mathews has a 1.87 ERA, striking out 53 batters and averaging over five innings per start. His most recent outing on July 9th saw him spin seven scoreless innings of work, allowing just two hits and two walks.

Between Dobbins, Mathews, Mautz, Molina, and now Cijntje down in Memphis, the Cardinals, after years of struggling to trust their depth minor league options, are finally getting to a place where they can trust their pitching depth over a 162-game season. And this is just the start. Top pitching prospects Liam Doyle and Tanner Franklin have only been in the organization for one year now, and there are so many other intriguing names like Yhoiker Fajardo, Jacob Odle, Brandon Clarke, Cooper Hjerpe, Tekoah Roby, Cade Crossland, Ixan Hendersno, Braden Davis, Chen-Wei Lin, and a bunch of arms they acquired in the draft this weekend.

While the Major League level has seen the fruit of their young hitters this year (with more coming on that front too), the Cardinals are so close to finally having young arms who will be throwing at the Major League level here soon.

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