With the 53rd overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, the New York Yankees took right-handed pitcher Bryce Cunningham, the Vanderbilt swingman who stepped into a weekend starter role this past season. While the Yankees took seven pitchers with their first seven picks, the first two, Alabama’s RHP Ben Hess and Cunningham, have been labeled as potential future starters in the Bronx.
Cunningham immediately checks the box for a major league team when it comes to frame. Standing at 6’5” and weighing in at 230 lbs, he fits the prototype of a tall and athletic strong-arm pitcher. Cunningham possesses a three-pitch arsenal of a mid-90s four-seam fastball that climbs to 97 mph, an elite mid to upper-80s changeup and a serviceable mid-80s slider. Going through initial MLB scouting, Cunningham was graded at or above league average on all three pitches, catching the eye of Damon Oppenheimer and the Yankees Domestic Amateur Scouting department crew.
This past season at Vanderbilt, Cunningham ended with a 7-4 record and a 4.36 ERA. Over 84.2 innings of work, Cunningham struck out 96 batters and held opposing batters to a .217 batting average. Between his upward line of growth over his three years at Vanderbilt and two-time All-Star status in the Cape Cod League, Cunningham has displayed both MLB-level skills and the push for growth.
With that, let’s take a look at Cunningham’s pitching repertoire and see what stands out.
The standard fastball
From the start of his college career to now, Cunningham has drastically improved and polished his mechanics, benefiting his entire arsenal. Even though his fastball doesn’t clock in consistently at a jaw-dropping high velocity, Cunningham has honed in on his control. He throws a plentiful amount of strikes, keeping the fastball away from barrels with a much-improved location, which generates a ton of swings within the zone.
Cunningham also generates around 18 inches of induced vertical break, which adds some fire to his fastball. Due to his high release point from a three-quarters arm slot, his fastballs come high and carry well, even down the stretch of deeper outings. Many of his fastball strikeouts come high in the zone, though that’s also where he’s been caught on deep shots too. Regardless of its effect, Cunningham’s fastball command is above average, and further development on his two other pitches will help make his four-seamer even more lethal. The Yankees pitching staff will aim to further mature his fastball to go with his trusty changeup as a one-two pair with a supplemental breaking ball.
Punch out changeup
The absolute gem that Cunningham brings to the Yankees organization is his changeup. He throws his fastball and slider much more often, but all that plays into his potent changeup — it proved to be one of the best swing-and-miss pitches in all of college baseball in 2024. The righty’s fastball and changeup act as a one-two combo, especially since they tunnel well together within the strike zone. In comparison to the fastball, his changeup is a bit slower with most falling in the mid to upper 80s. On top of that, his changeup has a drastic drop at the plate, making it a lethal strikeout pitch. At times, Cunningham can get his changeup to drift low and away, making it a pitch batters chase after.
This past season alone, Cunningham’s changeup marked a whiff percentage over 50%, putting it within the upper echelon of swing-and-miss pitches nationwide. As he develops in the minor leagues, it’ll be important to check out how his changeup continues to be a deadly pitch with possible increased usage over the slider.
Work-in-progress slider
The pitch that presents the most room for improvement is Cunningham’s slider. His strong and foundational fastball and changeup, along with his athletic delivery, create a clear lane for a professional pitching staffer to tinker with this pitch. In a general sense, Cunningham’s slider can be labeled a gyro slider simply because it comes with much more emphasis on a hard, blunt toss rather than a focus on a horizontal break. In some ways, his slider replicates movement similar to a cutter, but it still presents a good downward break. Even though Cunningham threw his slider more than his changeup throughout his college career, it’s easier to believe that his changeup will become his No. 2 pitch, with the slider becoming a solid breaking ball for a third option. The Yankees themselves have had a good history of helping pitchers develop sliders, so even though Cunningham’s slider is raw, it will certainly get the necessary adjustments to become more productive, especially against left-handed batters.
Overall, Cunningham will be an interesting project for New York. The physical characteristics and pieces of an elite pitcher are all there. Cunningham will just need to make some slight adjustments to bring out his full potential. The fastball-changeup combination will be the highlight of his arsenal, but the gyro slider could also become just as useful with its future development.
