Recovering Yankees prospect gets high expert praise after Arizona Fall League debut

The New York Yankees' attempts to overload their prospect pipeline with pitching talent during the 2024 draft appear to have been largely successful, just one year out. Outside of a few bumps and bruises — third-rounder Thatcher Hurd succumbed to immediate Tommy John surgery — the Yankees largely extracted what they wanted from the group.

Ben Hess, the summer's top pick, has joined the elite class of the Yankees' farm system, alongside 2024-25 offseason import Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz, flamethrower Carlos Lagrange, and the transcendent Cam Schlittler. Lefty Griffin Herring broke out spectacularly, and helped net the Yankees Ryan McMahon at the trade deadline. Fourth-rounder Gage Ziehl was used at the deadline, too, though most would probably prefer to forget about Austin Slater, a near-total non-entity.

Stuck somewhere in between, though, was Bryce Cunningham. Thought to be the most pro-ready addition after being selected 53rd overall, he — stop me if you've heard this before — hit an injury snag before he could fully display that readiness. He began the year by powering through hitters in the High-A Sally League, but swiftly proved he was no one's Role Model just yet, coming down with a shoulder injury before the wine ran out. A 2.14 ERA with a 44/10 K/BB ratio in his first seven starts was enough to further justify the Yankees' plans. Unfortunately, his season was mostly done after mid-May, save for a few miniature starts and restarts.

Now, the Yankees have sent Cunningham to the Arizona Fall League not as a showcase, but as an opportunity to build up game-speed innings before next spring training to account for some of what he lost in Year 1 in the system.

The righty's first AFL outing was a mixed bag, as his fastball was hit hard in his first inning and he struggled to land his breaking pitches. However, he pivoted to his deadly changeup in the second frame, spinning a scoreless one to end on a relative high note. In all, he used the pitch — deemed one of the best in last year's class — seven times.

Yankees top prospect Bryce Cunningham shines with best-in-league changeup in Arizona Fall League

Thirty-one strikes in 50 pitches and a feel for his change-of-pace will turn heads. The results on the whole? Not so much.

Still, Cunningham's stint in Arizona is supposed to be something between a reset and a fresh start, and the top-grade tools were clearly still on display in his unveiling. It was nice to see him toe the rubber rather than disappear, avoiding early comparisons to fellow heavy-polish second-rounder Brendan Beck in the process (side note: Beck is back, too).