Jake

Cunningham

The home run was his second of the AFL season and was a 411-foot shot that left the bat at 110.5 mph. The 22-year-old is also up to six RBI so far. Cunningham was a fifth-round pick out of UNC Charlotte after playing through an ankle injury for much of his junior season. He also had a quadriceps injury that kept him out for most of the first month of the season at Single-A Delmarva and then batted just .175/.301/.265 with 62 strikeouts in 52 games after coming back. However, he enjoyed a strong end of the season and was promoted to High-A before keeping his hot streak alive in the AFL so far.

Cunningham, a fifth-round pick in 2023, had a rough first full pro season, hitting just .220/.312/.308 while playing mostly in low-A ball. A nice showing here would definitely help his stock as he presumably starts off at high-A next year.