ANAHEIM, Calif. — High school shortstop and MLB Draft prospect Kayson Cunningham didn’t hide his confidence during his draft visit with the Arizona Diamondbacks last month.
The D-backs practice with a Trajekt hitting machine, which mimics major league pitchers they are going to face. While warming up to hit on the field at Chase Field, Cunningham wanted to face a pro on the Trajekt.
When asked which major leaguer he would like to see, Cunningham went for the very top of the food chain.
“I asked to hit off Paul Skenes,” Cunningham said after the D-backs took him in the first round of the MLB Draft on Sunday.
Skenes is the reigning NL Rookie of the Year, a two-time All-Star who can deliver 102 mph heat and a mid-90s mph “splinker.”
Cunningham said he sat on a fastball against the virtual ace of the Pittsburgh Pirates and crushed a home run. He claims to have hit the ball with an exit velocity of 114 mph. Jaws were dropped in the room.
“They didn’t really know what to say, honestly,” Cunningham said.
“That story is true,” D-backs director of amateur scouting Ian Rebhan said. “Which is cool because it shows he wasn’t scared. He wanted to be challenged, and he showed how quality of a hitter he is. … It’s a cool moment now that we have him in our organization. It’ll be a cool story to tell when he is playing in the big leagues for us.”
The Diamondbacks selected Cunningham with the No. 18 overall pick out of Lady Bird Johnson High School in San Antonio, Texas.
Rebhan said the organization felt Cunningham was the best prep hitter in the class, someone with “budding power” in a 5-foot-10 frame. The left-handed batter hit .509 during his senior year in high school to win the Gatorade Player of the Year in Texas.
Rebhan fielded questions regarding Cunningham’s size, considering the D-backs’ track record for taking players on the shorter end with high-level traits.
“ I think this is the narrative that is definitely going around. I think we’re more drawn to their skills,” Rebhan said. “Kayson is a left-handed hitter that makes a ton of contact. He shows the ability to control the strike zone. He’s gonna hit, he’s gonna limit strikeouts, he’s gonna walk. I think the thing I always come back to is these guys, they do have power.”
Rebhan said the countless hours spent by his scouts, analysts and cross-checkers — and Cunningham’s makeup — drove the team to draft him. But seeing him want to face the very best on the Trajekt and handle himself did not hurt.
Perhaps this moment will flash in his mind if he earns the chance to face Skenes for real at some point down the road.
