Chicago Cubs could target another sleeper prospect in the 2024 MLB Draft

The Chicago Cubs will have the 14th overall pick in the 2024 MLB draft and we’ve covered a handful of players they may have their eye on when the time comes. 

A player we haven’t spent much time discussing is Mississippi State sophomore pitcher, Jurrangelo Cijntje. Generally speaking, we’ll list the handedness of a pitcher when we state their name, but in Cijntje’s case, that’s impossible.

There’s such a thing as switch-hitters, but switch-pitchers are significantly more rare. The most impressive thing about Cijntje’s switch-pitching, though, is that he’s actually good at it. 

Ian Happ was a prime example of a switch-hitter who might as well have just hit as a lefty for most of his career, considering how strong he was from the left side of the plate and how weak he was from the right side.

That being said, according to MLB dot com, he’s added muscle, and “his fastball can hit 99 from the right and 95 coming in from the left.” 

In a world where Tommy John Surgery is more prevalent than ever before, having a pitcher who is capable of continuing to pitch with his opposite arm in case of injury is an extremely valuable perk.

Jurrangelo Cijntje is darkhose prospect for the Chicago Cubs to look at in the 2024 MLB Draft.

When MLB dot com released their 2024 draft prospects list a couple of months ago, Cijntje was not ranked in the top 100, but that appears to be subject to change. 

There is such a thing as helium when it comes time to make draft picks and the Cubs have been a team that is more susceptible to recency bias than most teams in the league. 

The good thing for them is that it's paid off in a big way so far, with two such players being James Triantos, who was signed to an over-slot deal in the second round of the 2021 draft, and Cade Horton, who was the Cubs’ first-round pick in the 2022 draft.

Immediately prior to the draft, MLB.com had Triantos ranked as the 78th-best player and Cade Horton was listed as the 24th-best player. The Cubs don't mind ignoring rankings if it means they can get the guy they covet.

If the Cubs don’t mind taking a risk on a player as unique as Cijntje then they could have a real star on (both of) their hands.