Springfield Cardinals Road Trip: Jurrangelo Cijntje pitching both righty and lefty

By Rob Rains

The Cardinals are giving switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje a chance to work lefthanded in games this season after originally saying in the spring that he would only pitch righthanded in games.

On Tuesday night in Springfield, Cijntje pitched from the left side to three consecutive lefthanded batters in the Midland lineup. He hit the first, then recorded two ground ball outs.

Cijntje pitched the rest of his 5 1/3 innings righthanded.

“We kind of had some different strategies in spring training when we were getting to know him a little bit,” said Matt Pierpont, the organization’s director of pitching. “He’s one of one; just trying to do right by him developmentally and give him every opportunity.”

Before each inning, Cijntje – acquired from Seattle in the Brendan Donovan trade – took warmup pitches as both a lefthander and righthander.

“The plan is to give him opportunities to go from the left side,” said Springfield pitching coach Eric Peterson. “He’s still going to pitch mostly righthanded. We just talk about it pre-game, and find the opportunities against lefthanded batters.

Cijntje also was used briefly as a lefthander in each of his first three starts this season.

He has a specially designed glove that always him to pitch from both sides.

“I was with Seattle when he was drafted and had him the rest of that summer before I came over here,” Pierpont said. “The first time ever seeing him throw with both hands was an interesting thing to watch. I had seen it and gotten to know him a little bit and that made the jump over here a little easier for him. He’s impressive for sure.”