Ranking the 10 most valuable Cardinals who will define their future

#9 - RHP Jurrangelo Cijntje

Previous Rankings: Was not with the organization

Acquired as the headliner in the Brendan Donovan trade this past offseason, Jurrangelo Cijntje is one of the most unique players in all of baseball, aiming to make his mark as a switch-pitcher on the mound.

While the Mariners were ready to fully convert him to just a right-handed pitcher going into this season, the Cardinals are willing to be patient and allow him to continue to throw from the left side a bit, something that he's done in games for them this year, but it still remains likely that his right arm will be the one he throws with long-term.

For now, it is tantalizing to dream on a guy who is as good as he is from the right side who can also attack lefties as a lefty himself. That could be a true one-of-one weapon in the Cardinals' rotation long-term if he is able to put it all together.

Currently, Cijntje is pitching for the Cardinals' Double-A affiliate, and it's been an overall rough start for him that has included a few good starts and some really bad ones. In his first outing of the year, Cijntje struck out seven batters while allowing just one hit in 5.2 scoreless innings, but followed that up with allowing six runs and four runs in fewer than five innings in consecutive starts. He rebounded nicely on April 21st with just one earned run in 4.2 innings, but had another short outing on April 26th.

Cijntje's fastball runs in the upper 90s and generates a lot of swing and miss, and pairs that with a slider that could end up being a plus pitch long-term. As a lefty, he gets a few ticks less of velocity on those pitches, and he will mix in a change-up from both sides as well.

Bloom did well to add so many dynamic young arms to the Cardinals' system this offseason, and Cijntje is among the most intriguing of the bunch. It will be fascinating to follow his trajectory from here on out, and if he can get the switch-pitching to work out, that will be a ton of fun to watch on the mound in St. Louis.

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