Brady Cunningham’s breakout boosts 2027 MLB Draft stock
FutureSox
Brady Cunningham sat down with FutureSox in Miami after batting practice at the Perfect Game National Showcase and explained the approach behind his record-setting junior season.
Cunningham talked about waiting for the right pitch without becoming passive. He wanted his swing working through the middle of the field and trusted the work he had put in to recognize when it was time to attack.
“You just got to be able to trust yourself and just ultimately have that patient, explosive approach,” Cunningham told FutureSox.
Less than 24 hours later, Cunningham put the approach on display.
In his first plate appearance of the showcase at loanDepot park, the Brother Rice third baseman worked the count full before driving a ball into the left-center field seats. The home run left his bat at 100.7 mph with a 27.1-degree launch angle and traveled 412.5 feet.
It became one of the first big swings in a summer filled with them.
Cunningham arrived in Miami after hitting .554 with 17 home runs and 62 RBI during his junior season. The 17 homers established a Brother Rice single-season record. Perfect Game named him its National High School Underclass Player of the Year and Cunningham also earned first-team ABCA/Rawlings All-America honors.
The power has always been the easiest part of Cunningham’s profile to see, but what has changed is how consistently it shows up in games and how much the rest of his profile has developed around it.
Building the breakout
Cunningham did not point to one mechanical adjustment when asked about his junior season.
He went back to the work that preceded it.
Cunningham credited hitting coach Chuck Peters and outside strength coach Cam Galgano along with the strength work he did at Brother Rice. He said the offseason helped him mentally as well as physically.
“I feel like those guys have just helped me bring my game to another level, not only physically, but mentally as well,” Cunningham said.
The results show how dramatic the jump became.
MaxPreps lists Cunningham with four home runs and 25 strikeouts across 113 at-bats in 2025. A year later, he hit 17 homers while striking out only 14 times in 112 at-bats.
The impact itself was not new. Five Tool tracked Cunningham at 105 mph on a single during the 2025 Area Code Underclass Games. What changed was the frequency with which that strength translated into production.
Cunningham felt the difference early.
Brother Rice opened its season in Las Vegas and Cunningham remembered the energy around the team immediately. He went 2-for-3 with a triple in the opener against Faith Lutheran.
More important to him was the confidence he felt stepping into the box.
“Everyone’s got your back,” Cunningham said. “Ultimately I knew when I stepped up to the plate, the guys behind me had my back.”
That comfort accompanied one of the best offensive seasons in the country.
Then Cunningham took it into the summer.
A patient, explosive approach
Cunningham stands close to the plate and wants his swing working through the middle.
That was evident during his batting practice round in Miami. He was not trying to turn every swing into a pull-side home run. Cunningham repeatedly drove the baseball through the center of the field.
“I feel like my swing approach is up the middle,” Cunningham said. “I feel like I have a pretty simple swing, so it’s just straight to the ball, straight up the middle.”
There is a purpose behind it.
Cunningham believes staying through the middle gives him more room to adjust when an offspeed pitch arrives. When pitchers work away, he wants to drive the ball to the opposite field instead of forcing everything to his pull side.
The larger challenge has been knowing when to unleash the strength already present in his swing. Cunningham said repetition has helped him trust his strike-zone recognition and better balance patience with aggression.
That idea is what he means when he talks about a “patient, explosive approach.”
The power is already established. What will shape Cunningham’s draft standing is how often he can reach it against higher-level pitching without sacrificing his strike-zone discipline or swing quality.
His summer has provided encouraging evidence.
Stronger without becoming slower
Cunningham’s physical development has also changed the way the rest of his profile can be viewed.
Perfect Game listed him at 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds during its 2024 Sophomore National Showcase. Cunningham ran a 7.16-second 60-yard dash at the event and threw 80 mph across the infield.
Two years later, he is listed at 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds.
The added size has not come at the expense of his athleticism.
Cunningham ran a 6.45-second 60 at PG National this summer. His infield velocity reached 90 mph and Perfect Game recorded a 98 mph workout exit velocity. His fastball has been up to 92 mph.
Perfect Game’s current scouting report describes Cunningham as an outstanding runner for his size and highlights his lateral movement at third base. The outlet now grades him a 10, the highest mark on its showcase scale.
The change in his 60 time stands out.
Cunningham has added roughly 15 pounds since the 2024 showcase while cutting more than seven-tenths of a second off his 60.
For a player with his frame and offensive profile, that athleticism creates more possibilities defensively.
Third base remains the position Cunningham knows best.
“I feel like I played a lot of third for my high school team, so I feel very comfortable over there,” he said.
He also began seeing time in the outfield during the spring.
“That is a new piece to my game,” Cunningham said. “I feel like I picked it up pretty well and it’s fun to fly around out there.”
Evaluators have not reached the same conclusion on his eventual defensive home.
Perfect Game’s latest report highlights Cunningham’s lateral movement and arm strength at third. Baseball America also sees enough range and arm strength to give him a chance to remain there.
There is no reason to settle that question now.
A 6.45 runner with a 90 mph infield arm has more room to answer it than Cunningham’s 225-pound frame might initially suggest.
Taking the power to Philadelphia
Cunningham arrived in Philadelphia after homering at loanDepot park in Miami.
He left as a Home Run Derby champion.
Cunningham was one of eight players selected for the 2026 High School Home Run Derby at Citizens Bank Park during MLB All-Star Week. He hit 12 home runs in the opening round before adding eight in the second.
That left him tied with Pennsylvania product Jimmy Amplo for the final championship spot.
Cunningham won the 30-second tiebreaker 4-1.
Three days later, he returned to Citizens Bank Park during the major league Home Run Derby and faced Sullivan Reed in the final.
Reed hit five.
Cunningham hit nine in 60 seconds to win the championship.
The environment had changed considerably from a high school game at Brother Rice. Cunningham’s explanation of his swing remained familiar. He told USA Baseball afterward that he focused on staying relaxed and trusting his mechanics rather than creating a different swing for the competition.
That fits what Cunningham had explained in Miami.
His preferred offensive identity does not require him to hunt home runs. He wants to stay direct and work through the middle. The power shows up when the pitch allows him to access it.
Winning in Philadelphia provided the most visible example.
It would not be the last time Cunningham’s power showed up on a national stage this summer.
Another opportunity with USA Baseball
Less than a week after winning the Derby, Cunningham reported to Cary, North Carolina for Phase 1 of USA Baseball’s 18U National Team Training Camp.
He was one of 88 players invited into the national-team evaluation process and has since advanced to Phase 2.
Cunningham is one of 46 players who will return to Cary from Aug. 23-26 and compete for a spot on the final 20-player 18U National Team roster.
For Cunningham, the setting carried a different meaning than an individual showcase or Home Run Derby. He was competing for a chance to represent the United States while surrounded by many of the best players in his class.
His approach to the attention around him remained consistent.
USA Baseball later quoted Cunningham discussing the importance of staying present and taking the process one day at a time.
It echoed something he had already told FutureSox weeks earlier.
That mindset would follow him to his next major stop.
Loud contact in Long Beach
Cunningham returned to the White Sox Area Code program in August after playing on its Underclass roster the previous summer.
He opened the 2026 Area Code Games with another home run.
Cunningham went deep against the Rangers for the White Sox’s only run in a 1-1 tie. The ball left his bat at 104 mph and traveled 381 feet.
The next day, Cunningham squared up a sweeper at 104 mph and drove it 372 feet to left-center. Blair Field held it for an out.
Later that day, he ripped a 100 mph single through the left side.
He finished the opening four games 4-for-11 with a home run and two walks. Cunningham then doubled home two runs in the fifth-place game against MLB Breakthrough.
Cunningham finished the event 5-for-14 with a double, a home run and four RBI. The performance earned him a spot on the Area Code Upperclass All-Tournament Team. Baseball America noted that his homer was one of only three hit during Upperclass play.
Cunningham entered the summer with a clear carrying tool. Long Beach offered another indication that the power can show against the type of pitching he will continue to see as the 2027 draft approaches.
Another national stage in Dyersville
Four days after leaving Long Beach, Cunningham was back on another national stage at MLB’s High School All-American Game in Dyersville.
He produced the two hardest-hit balls of the game. Cunningham drove a 104.5 mph ball 380 feet to center in the first inning. Later, he lined a 103.9 mph triple 403 feet to right-center.
Cunningham later scored the American League’s only run in a 3-1 loss while seeing time at both third and first base.
MLB Pipeline included Cunningham among 11 standouts from the event. Those two swings reinforced the same middle-of-the-field power he had described to FutureSox in Miami.
Where evaluators see Cunningham now
The industry has moved Cunningham firmly into the national conversation. Perfect Game ranks him No. 9 nationally in the 2027 high school class. Baseball America lists him No. 11 among high school prospects and No. 31 overall, while Over-Slot has him No. 16 on its updated high school board.
The rankings only tell part of the story. Evaluators differ more on what Cunningham’s power will come with as he develops.
Baseball America sees high-end bat speed with the potential for plus or better raw power. The outlet views Cunningham as more power-over-hit offensively, but considers him an above-average runner with enough arm and range to give third base a chance.
Baseball America has also noted similarities between Cunningham and White Sox infielder Caleb Bonemer. Both are physical right-handed infielders whose athleticism gives them more defensive flexibility than their frames might initially suggest.
Perfect Game’s latest report sees a simple swing with easy bat speed that can produce both average and power. Cunningham’s running ability also continues to stand out at his size.
Joe Doyle of Over-Slot came away from Area Codes increasingly bullish on the bat. He sees plus power projection but also more hitting ability than is typical for a player of Cunningham’s size. Doyle highlighted Cunningham’s simple setup and adjustable hands, particularly his ability to drive pitches low in the zone to either gap.
Doyle also noted elements of J.D. Martinez and Kris Bryant in Cunningham’s hitting operation. The references are more about how the swing works than direct player comparisons.
The long-term defensive home remains the biggest point of disagreement. Doyle believes Cunningham could eventually move to first base or the outfield, while Perfect Game and Baseball America remain more open to him staying at third.
That question does not need to be settled more than 11 months before the draft. The White Sox made similar bets on offensive ability with Landon Thome and Cole Prosek in the 2026 draft. Both were regarded as advanced prep hitters without a certain long-term defensive home.
Chicago viewed both as two of the better high school bats in the class and prioritized the offense while leaving the position to be sorted out through development. Cunningham could present a similar type of evaluation next summer. Mike Shirley has also spoken about keeping Chicago-area players in the organization when the scouting staff believes in them.
MLB Pipeline has already noted that Cunningham’s raw power could push him into first-round discussions in 2027. He still has another high school season to show how much of the complete profile develops around it.
The White Sox connection
Cunningham already has a few natural connections for FutureSox readers.
He plays at Brother Rice in the Chicago area and has spent the past two summers on Area Code’s White Sox-branded Midwest roster.
Area Code divides its players among regional teams and gives prospects a chance to compete in front of scouts from across baseball.
Cunningham values the event for what happens around the games as much as what happens during them.
“I thought it was just an awesome experience overall,” Cunningham told FutureSox after his first summer with the program. “It’s one of the best events I’ve ever been to.”
He pointed to what he could learn from the players around him.
“Picking everyone’s brain and learning the game is something you can’t really get anywhere else,” Cunningham said.
By the time Cunningham returned to Long Beach this summer, he had become a much more established prospect.
That Chicago connection followed him to Dyersville, where former White Sox slugger Jim Thome served as one of the managers for MLB’s High School All-American Game. Cunningham told Southwest Regional Publishing that his conversations with Thome reinforced the importance of staying relaxed in the box and being ready to hit.
Back to Philadelphia
Cunningham returned to Citizens Bank Park for another major stop in his summer, back at the ballpark where he had won the High School Home Run Derby a month earlier.
This time, Cunningham returned as one of 60 players selected for the Perfect Game DICK’S All-American Classic.
Cunningham also took the mound during the event. The appearance served as another reminder of the two-way ability still present in his profile even as the bat has driven his rise.
By then, Cunningham had spent most of the summer moving from one national stage to another before returning to the same ballpark where he had won the Derby.
The attention around him had changed considerably, but his approach had not.
“Being where your feet are is something I always like to remind myself of,” Cunningham told FutureSox. “Never look too far ahead.”
For now, Cunningham has a Team USA roster spot to chase and one final season at Brother Rice ahead of him.
