The Major League Baseball Draft starts on Sunday and it’s very likely that Johnson’s Kayson Cunningham is the first player from the San Antonio-area that comes off the board.
And it’s not too much of a stretch if he’s gone by the end of Round 1.
Kayson can hit with the best of them. A four-year starter with the Jags who’s got around a .490 career batting average.
Kayson held a workout in his hometown of San Antonio to catch everybody up on where he is in the days leading up to the draft.
The Johnson shortstop is projected to go very high; most scouting services rate Cunningham between the top 15-20 prospects in the country.
Kayson’s dad Marco has already been through the draft process himself, he’s a former 27th rounder of the Kansas City Royals who walked away from the game on his own after suffering a back injury, despite compiling a .268 career batting average in four minor league seasons.
As an homage to the Royals, though, when mom and dad were naming Kayson, a last minute change to Kayson with a “K” instead of a C to honor Marco’s time spent in the KC organization.
But the moment Kayson and his family have all been waiting for is almost here.
Cunningham was invited to attend the MLB Draft in Atlanta but is choosing to stay closer to home to celebrate with those close to him.
He’s certainly earned family time especially after going on many in-person workouts in the days leading up to the draft.
And he performed well!
From flipping balls out of Angels Stadium in Anaheim, California into the centerfield rocks, to taking a digital representation of Paul Skenes deep on a pitching simulator during a workout for another team.
Kayson Cunningham, Marco Cunningham and Kayson’s high school coach, Gordy Gesell speak on the the journey in the attached video clip.
The MLB Draft starts on Sunday with Rounds 4-7 on Monday.