Jurrangelo Cijntje becomes 20th Diamond Dawg first rounder with selection to the Seattle Mariners
Two years after turning down the MLB Draft to come to Starkville and play for Mississippi State, Jurrangelo Cijntje is a first-round draft pick.
The Seattle Mariners selected Cijntje 15 overall on Sunday’s Draft as the ambidextrous pitcher became the 20th Diamond Dawg in school history to go in the first round. This came two years after Cijntje was taken in the 18th round as a short stop by the Milwaukee Brewers.
A native of Curacao, Cijntje moved to Florida for high school and played for Champagnat Catholic in Pembroke Pines. He was an interesting prospect for scouts in high school due to the fact he could play short stop and he could throw with both arms, but no one was willing to spend a draft pick or a lot of money on him at that point.
Though the Brewers selected him as a short stop, Cijntje would exclusively pitch with the Bulldogs. He made an impact right away for State as a freshman in 2023 and would start in 13 ball games. There were some good moments for CIjntje, but he struggled midway through the season until the end and finished 3-5 on the year with a 8.10 ERA. He struck out 63 batters with 34 walks in 50.0 innings.
With the addition of new pitching coach Justin Parker in 2024, the jump was large for Cijntje. The talented sophomore jumped into the Saturday starter role and gave the Diamond Dawgs a competitive start almost every week.
In 16 starts, Cijntje brought that ERA down to 3.67 and he produced a 8-2 record. He threw 90.2 innings, gave up just 30 walks and struck out 113 batters while lowering the opponent batting average to .211.
The season that Cijntje had earned him a Second-Team All-American nod and an invite to the MLB Draft Combine. It was there that Cijntje improved his stock even more and grabbed a spot in the first round.
Cintje is the first Bulldog to be picked in the first round since Landon Sims was taken in the Competitive Balance A round in 2022. Along with having the distinction of being State’s 20th first rounder, he’s the sixth player since Chris Lemonis was hired to be selected in the first round joining Ethan Small (2019), Justin Foscue and Jordan Westburg (2020), Will Bednar and Sims.
Small, Foscue and Westburg have all earned MLB callups during their career and Westburg was named to the All-Star Game this season. 16 of the first 19 first round draft picks have played in the MLB with BJ Wallace being the only one to this point that never reached it and Bednar and Sims still climbing the ladder.
