Bryce
Cunningham

Regardless of a subpar performance against LSU (4.1 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 6 SO) on 80 pitches, Cunningham has figured some things out this year. He has also leaned up physically and gained needed durability. Instead of tiring around 50 pitches to power through a lineup multiple times he can now strongly navigate deeper into the game. At his best his fastball will touch 98 and his changeup will play plus. It’s a high-spinning (2400 rpm) power changeup with up to 25” (average 21-22”) of late horizontal action to his armside and a swing/miss weapon that sports a 66.1 whiff% (100th percentile) this season. Against LSU his heater topped at 97, sat 94-95 and spun in the 2400-2500 rpm range. Cunningham’s slider is also very usable. It flashed average at 84-86 mph and spun in the 2400s. Although it is not as high quality as his changeup, he throws the pitch more often. He also showed a consistent release point 6-foot-4 to 6-foot-5 on his fastball and a couple inches lower on his secondaries. For an average hitter, a drop of a couple inches isn’t noticeable during game action, but becomes observable to the average hitter around 5-6” of release point change. Other than my first-ever scouting look at Cunningham when he was a freshman, I haven’t seen the “A” version of a prospect who many scouts project as a future #2/#3 Major League starting pitcher. With that said, the 6-foot-5, 230-pound right-hander was good enough to safely project to Day One for this summer’s draft.

Cape Cod: The Cape All-Star looks the part of a future MLB starting pitcher with a clean delivery, good direction and a still head. He drove the ball downhill into the zone and showed higher level pitchability, mixing an 89-93 mph fastball that spun in the 2300s with a lively power changeup at 85-87 and a short, tight 81-83 slider. Cunningham finished the season with 25 strikeouts and 12 walks in 25.2 innings and a 4.55 ERA.