2025 MLB Draft Profile: Kayson Cunningham
NAME: Kayson Cunningham
SCHOOL: Johnson High School (TX)
POSITION: SS
HEIGHT/WEIGHT: 5’10″/ 182
B/T: L/R
D.O.B.: 6/25/2006
College Commitment: : University of Texas
Scouting Report
In a draft class that is chock full of prep shortstops, Kayson Cunningham is likely the best pure hitter out of all of them. Playing in Texas 6A high school baseball, Cunningham absolutely tore it up. In his four year varsity career, he hit .447 across 442 at-bats. That’s an impressive number, but what’s even more impressive is only striking out 17 times in those 442 attempts.
I’ll save you some math, that’s 3.8%. To do that in Texas 6A baseball, perhaps the most loaded high school baseball conference in America, is nothing short of amazing. In his senior season this spring, Cunningham’s slash line was an eye-popping .509/.607/.769. Unsurprisingly, he was named the Texas Gatorade Player of the Year for his efforts. Cunningham attended Johnson High School which was named after Claudia Taylor “Lady Bird” Johnson. The public school has around 3,200 students.
Across overall draft boards, Cunningham slots in at 11th for MLB Pipeline, 12th for Baseball America, 17th for Kiley McDaniel of ESPN, 10th for Prospects Live, 20th for Keith Law of The Athletic, and 13th for Future Stars Series. He played for USA Baseball’s 18U team last summer, and batted .417.
He took home MVP honors for the squad, over other top ranked high school talents in the draft class such as Ethan Holliday, Gavin Fien, and Eli Willits. He was also named MVP in the Prep Baseball All American Game last summer, going 2-3 with a homer. Ranked as the #1 player in the state of Texas for the 2025 class by Perfect Game, Cunningham elected to stay home and committed to the Texas Longhorns in July of last year.
Cunningham brings a fun tool set to the table. The hit tool is pretty comfortably a plus, grading out at a 60 across multiple outlets. It’s great barrel control with the ability to cover every inch of the zone and hit it hard to all fields. You won’t see many videos of a pitcher getting Cunningham to swing and miss, either. Pair that with his advanced plate discipline, he drew 127 walks across his 4 years playing varsity baseball. The power doesn’t jump off the page at you, but it’s hard line drives in the gaps.
There’s room to add more power as he fills out, as well. He likely won’t hit more than 15 home runs a year in the big leagues, but he projects to be a prolific on base talent that would work well at the top of any lineup. When he does get on base, he’ll swipe more than a handful of bags. A twitchy runner with plus speed and great instincts, he is a threat to do damage on the base paths.
Defensively, Cunningham is slick. Good hands, footwork, and the arm strength to stick as a shortstop. While he would be one of the smaller shortstops in the league, he is more than capable of doing it. A slide to second base isn’t out of the question either, but he should get the chance to showcase his talents on the left side before moving over. His speed gives him the ability to make plays up the middle and in the hole, and has the arm strength to throw a runner out from deep on the dirt.
Why Would the White Sox Draft Kayson Cunningham?
Very simply put, selecting Cunningham would give you a middle infield to dream on for the distant future. Pairing his on base talents and quickness at second base with Caleb Bonemer’s power and patience would be one of the more fun middle infield duos the White Sox organization has seen in a while. The White Sox have done well with developing high school shortstops recently, in Bonemer and his predecessor Colson Montgomery.
Those two were power-over-hit coming out of high school, but Cunningham is hit-over-power. We’ve seen and heard the organization, namely Ryan Fuller and Marcus Thames, stress the importance of commanding the plate and being a tough match up for any pitcher. There’s perhaps no better fit for that statement in this draft class than Kayson Cunningham. He seems like a perfect fit for the organization’s wants.
While some might point to the influx of infielders the organization has acquired recently as a reason to look away from Cunningham, there are far worse things to have than multiple athletic, fast middle infielders. Look no further than Jackson Merrill, who was blocked at shortstop for the Padres and is now one of the best center fielders in the game. I doubt Cunningham would struggle with a move to the outfield, on the slim chance it does happen.
In terms of money given to Cunningham if he is the choice, I have a hard time believing he’d command an over-slot deal. It depends on how the board shakes out, but the White Sox could even be able to save a bit of money on Cunningham. The 10th pick is worth $6,238,400, and would be the largest bonus given to a high school player drafted by the White Sox.
The record is Colson Montgomery, signing for $3,027,000 in 2021. If Cunningham is an under-slot option, look for the White Sox to scoop up a name in the 2nd round that was projected in the 1st round, but fell on draft night. Financials of the draft are always murky and hard to guess until they’re announced, so don’t put too much stock in anything other than the slot values listed.
Mock Draft Outcomes
Mock drafts seem to have pegged Cunningham going in the middle of the first round, with some teams being predicted more than once. Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline sent Cunningham to the Texas Rangers at the 12th pick, as did Joe Doyle of Future Stars Series. Prospects Live also had Cunningham going 12th overall. Carlos Collazo of Baseball America had Cunningham falling all the way to the Milwaukee Brewers at 20th, but mentioned that it felt low for him.
Keith Law of the Athletic has Cunningham going 21st to the Houston Astros. Kiley McDaniel of ESPN is the low man on Cunningham, sending him to the Detroit Tigers at 24th overall, but mentioned that he has buzz in the teens. FutureSox’s own James Fox mocked Cunningham 14th overall to the Tampa Bay Rays in our Mock Draft 1.0
