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The Phoenix Suns‘ forward Ryan Dunn never got over his first love of playing baseball.
Before the Arizona Diamondbacks‘ 6-5 home win over the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday, Aug. 19, Dunn transferred his skill as one of the Suns’ top on-ball defenders during the 2024-25 season to the infield at Chase Field.
Standing between second and third base, Dunn chased down a swift groundball toward the hole and whipped it to first, just like Ketel Marte during the Diamondbacks’ pregame warmups.
“I still got it, Marte!” Dunn yelled to the Diamondbacks’ All-Star second baseman and pumped his fist.
Dunn was there with his Suns teammates Oso Ighodaro and Collin Gillespie, who threw out the Diamondbacks-Guardians game’s first pitch.
All three of the young Suns also took some batting practice.
“It’s great,” Dunn said to PHNX Sports. “Not even just that, just coming out on the field again. I haven’t done it since freshman year of high school. So coming out here with Marte, and you know, hitting, I almost hit one out, caught one, so it was just fun, having fun again. I’ll be back here a couple more times before the season ends. Maybe before we start (the NBA season), just getting out being a kid again.”
Dunn is a former pitcher like his older brother, Justin Dunn, who played for the Seattle Mariners and the Cincinnati Reds between 2019-2022. The 6-foot-7-inch Dunn was also a shortstop and third baseman before he began playing basketball in middle school. He suffered an elbow injury, which made him swap his desire to be on an MLB field of dreams for hoop dreams and reaching the NBA.
“He’s trying extremely hard right now, just making sure everyone knows he played baseball,” Ighodaro said in jest about his close friend Dunn. “He’s an OK athlete. Nah, he did a good job fielding.”
Dunn and Ighodaro were rookies last season and are expected to be key parts of the Suns’ rebuild effort this season.
Gillespie said he played baseball until the eighth grade like Dunn, but not with the same level of talent.
“Why would I not try hard?” Dunn said in reaction to Ighodaro’s evaluation about his baseball skills. “I’m playing on an MLB field. I would try hard. I’m not going to make myself look like a dummy. But, you know, people do what they want to do. That’s what Oso does, as he’s learning from my brother how to play, so he’s trying hard. OK, buddy.”
Oso Ighodaro on Ryan Dunn at D-Backs batting practice: “He’s trying extremely hard right now, just making sure everyone knows he played baseball” 😂 pic.twitter.com/8ZLUdgQ7wd
— PHNX Suns (@PHNX_Suns) August 20, 2025