As the first round of the 2025 amateur draft unfolded, Arizona Diamondbacks scouting director Ian Renhan knew who he was going to target.
The problem was the player he really wanted, high school shortstop Kayson Cunningham, was projected to go within the first 12-14 picks. The D-backs, picking at 18, had to anxiously wait to see if they could get their man.
"I got my steps in today, I guess. I'll say at that pace in there waiting for that one. We are extremely happy that he got to our pick and couldn't be more thrilled."
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10 of the first 11 position players taken were shortstops. Cunningham is widely considered to be the best pure hitter of all of them, and it was for that reason that the Diamondbacks targeted him.
"Kayson, a left-hand hitter that makes a ton of contact. He shows the ability to control the strike zone. He's gonna hit, he's gonna limit strikeouts. He's gonna walk," said Rebhan
Cunningham's hitting ability is not limited to just making contact. The Diamondbacks believe he has real power. Earlier today Alex D'Agostino wrote on our website relayed an anecdote from Cunningham about driving a ball 114 MPH off a simulator with Paul Skenes throwing.
The scouting that went into determining Cunningham has power went far beyond that however. Throughout the scouting process Cunningham displayed that power.
"We think there's budding powerin there as well. He came here and hit for us at Chase Field. He's shown that power at the PBR All-American Game where he won the MVP. So we think you're really getting a bat-and-power future shortstop," Rebhan said.
Questions persisted during the media interview about Cunningham's size. He's listed at 5'10, but very well may be an inch or two shorter than that. The D-backs have a long history of taking undersized players, such as Corbin Carroll, Alek Thomas, Tommy Troy, and Slade Caldwell as just a few examples.
Rehban addressed those questions at some length.
"I think the thing that I always come back to is these guys, they do have power. He showed it to us here. He showed it to us in the big league park in Miami during the PBR All-American game. I think sometimes people think that people of that stature can't have power.
"But I think all these guys have shown the do have impact. I think that creates that offensive profile that's super interesting when you don't swing and miss and you control the strike zone and you can slug."
The simple fact is the Diamondbacks are not downgrading players for their size, whereas other organizations do.
That often leads to players falling to them in the draft that would go much higher if they were just a couple inches taller.
That's how they got Cobin Carroll, and others. Asked if this were the case, Rebhan answered in the affirmative
"I could agree with that. It just comes down to identifying tools and how they impact the game.
"I think you watch Corbin Carroll and Alek Thomas and Slade Caldwell, they play defense, they're super athletic, they stay in the middle of field, they make a ton of contact, they control the strike zone and they have power. I think when you combine that up, it's a really, really good player."
The Diamondbacks initially scouted Forbes in high school as a position player. He converted to pitching during his time in college, only becoming a starter in his junior year.
That low workload and lack of experience was actually a bonus for Rebhan. "We think there's a ton of upside there of a guy with not a ton of innings on his arm," he said.
That was our takeaway too, that Forbes may be a late bloomer. Rebhan went on to discuss Forbes' arsenal.
"His arsenal and mix is pretty impressive. He's got a fastball up to a hundred miles an hour. It's an explosive fastball. It's got a ton of ride and carry.
"He struck out 35% of the batters he faced this year. We think it's four-pitch mix. He's got a slider. He's got to changeup. He's got a cutter. So a four-pitch mix, traditional starter," Rebhan said.
Rebhan also noted that while some public scouting reports mention two different shapes to his slider, it's actually two different pitches, cutter and sweeper. "He's got that really short, harder one. And then one that lengthens out and sweeps a little bit."
Curley began the year in the bullpen but was quickly converted to starter. According to Rebhan he was able to log five or six innings per outing as a starter this year.
"He's another one. He's got a big arm. It's a carry fastball. He's up to a hundred. He's got a power breaking ball. We think he's a starter as well. He's thrown strikes. He performed. He punched dudes out in the SEC," Rebhan said.
It was the performance in the SEC that Rebhan kept going back to that impressed him and the scouts the most.
"I think for him, it was very much that SEC performance, being at Virginia Commonwealth and transferring to the SEC and having success in what we feel is the best league in college baseball, pitching on Friday nights."
Curely is also shorter in stature, listed at 5'10 and again, perhaps an inch or two shorter than that. Asked about his size, Rebhan again emphasized, size doesn't matter.
"Again, I think we try to take that out of the equation, right? I think obviously size is one piece of the puzzle, but I think we're looking at this as we just got a starting pitcher who throws 100 and has a power breaking ball and has started on Friday nights in the best conference in college baseball and had success doing that and punched out a lot of really good hitters," Rebhan said.
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