Mariners general manager Justin Hollander said Sunday that Cijntje will be used as a right-handed starting pitcher during spring training, Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reports.
In 2025, the switch pitcher initially made starts right-handed on Saturdays and relief appearances as a lefty on Wednesdays. That plan was abandoned after he was ineffective in the relief outings, and he switched to throwing lefty in certain matchups during his right-handed starts. Cijntje will still occasionally throw left-handed in bullpen sessions, and the Mariners have not ruled out a return to switch-pitching at some point. However, Cijntje's focus for now will be on developing as a right-handed starter. The 22-year-old finished 2025 with a 3.99 ERA and 120:51 K:BB over 108.1 innings between High-A Everett and Double-A Arkansas. Cijntje will return to Arkansas to begin the 2026 campaign and could push to debut at some point later on in the summer.