2025 MLB Draft Preview: Kayson Cunningham scouting report

The 2025 MLB Draft is less than a week away — the first round kicks off on July 13, 2025 — so its time to start offering capsule looks at players the Texas Rangers could select with their top picks. The Rangers’ first round pick is at #12, their second round pick is at #52, and their third round pick is at #84.

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Leading up to draft day, we will be doing writeups of some of the players who could end up getting selected by the Rangers with one of their first three picks. Today we are looking at San Antonio prep shortstop Kayson Cunningham.

Kayson Cunningham is a lefthanded hitting shortstop at Johnson High School in San Antonio, Texas. He is listed at 5’10”, 182 lbs. He turned 19 two weeks ago, and is committed to the University of Texas.

Cunningham is described by multiple sources as one of the best pure hitters in this draft class. He has tremendous bat-to-ball skills and very little swing-and-miss in his game. He gets high marks for his approach and uses the entire field. He has extensive experience for the US national team and has shown an ability to thrive against the best pitchers in his age group. His swing is more geared for line drives than for loft, and its questionable how much power he will have as a pro.

Cunningham was the shortstop for the US 18U team this past summer, and is expected to at least start his professional career as a shortstop. However, there are concerns about whether he has the quickness and arm to stay at the position long-term, and many think he will end up at second base. Cunningham is fast, and MLB Pipeline describes him as a high-energy guy on the bases and in the field.

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Keith Law notes that Cunningham is going to drop on some boards both because of his size — Law says he’s more like 5’8” than 5’10” — and his age, as he’s one of the oldest high school players in the draft. He also doesn’t provide much physical projection going forward.

Baseball America has Cunningham at #11 on their top 500 list. MLB Pipeline’s draft rankings have Cunningham at #14. Keith Law’s top 100 list has Cunningham at #15. Kiley McDaniel’s top 150 list has Cunningham at #17. Fangraphs has Cunningham at #5 on their board.

Baseball America’s mock draft from June 9 has the Brewers taking Cunningham at #20, but also links him to the Rangers at #12, the Giants at #13 and the D-Backs at #18. BA’s June 30 mock draft has Cunningham going to the D-Backs at #18, but also mentions him with the White Sox at #10, the Giants at #13 and the Red Sox at #15. Keith Law’s latest mock draft has Cunningham going to the Brewers at #20, but also has him as a possibility for Texas at #12. Kiley McDaniel’s mock draft from June 18 has Cunningham going to the D-Backs at #29. The Callis/Mayo combined mock draft from June 19 has Cunningham going to the Giants at #13. Jonathan Mayo’s June 26 mock draft has Cunningham going to Houston at #21, but also mentions him as an option for several other teams prior to that, including the Rangers. Jim Callis’s July 3 mock draft has Cunningham going to the Tigers at #24, but also mentions him as a possibility at #10 and #13.

The Rangers have been heavily connected to prep infielders at #12, and Cunningham is part of that group, though one gets the sense that there’s a wide variety of where he is landing on different boards. The algorithmic-heavy teams are going to downgrade Cunningham significantly due to his age, and perhaps to a lesser extent due to his height. On the other hand, the hit tool is legit, and that is the tool that a lot of teams value above all others.

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The mocks show a wide spread of where he could land, which would seem to be a reflection of the varying views that teams have of him. Termarr Johnson, another 5’8” prep infielder with a great hit tool who was profiled as a second baseman as a pro, went 4th overall in 2022 and has disappointed as a pro, and that may hurt Cunningham as well. While Cunningham is seen as being signable, he would also be draft-eligible as a sophomore in 2027, and so its not out of the question that if he doesn’t get mid-first-round money he could go play for a top program at UT and then see how things look in two years.

Previously:

Nick Dumesnil

Ike Irish

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Jojo Parker

Cade Obermueller

Charles Davalan

JD Thompson

Gavin Fein

Lucas Franco

Daniel Dickinson

Cam Leiter

Dean Curley

Gage Wood

Max Belyeu

Brady Ebel

Steele Hall

Daniel Pierce

Nolan Schubart

Kyson Witherspoon

Dax Kilby

Mitch Voit