On Sunday, the New York Yankees picked two players during the first two rounds of the 2024 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. In the first round (26th overall), they selected RHP Ben Hess from the University of Alabama. In the second round (53rd overall), they chose RHP Bryce Cunningham from Vanderbilt University.
Hess, a 6-foot-5, 255-pound right-hander, recorded a 5-5 record with a 5.80 ERA (68.1 IP, 60 H, 47 R/44 ER, 35 BB, 106 K, 13 HR) in 15 starts for Alabama as a junior. His 106 strikeouts led his team and ranked fifth in a single season in school history, and eighth in the SEC in 2024. Over three seasons at Alabama (2022-24), Hess went 12-6 with a 4.81 ERA (138.1 IP, 111 H, 84 R/74 ER, 62 BB, 205 K, 26 HR) in 33 games (30 starts), boasting a school-record 13.34 K/9.0 IP ratio.
“Ben checks off a lot of things for us,” said Damon Oppenheimer, Yankees Vice President of Domestic Amateur Scouting. “He fits what we are looking for in a potential top-of-the-line Major League starter. Specifically, he’s a big, power right-hander that can throw two breaking balls and can reach up to 97 mph. We think there is even more to come from Ben with our player development program.”
Hess is the third collegiate pitcher the Yankees have drafted in the first round since 2009, following Clarke Schmidt (2017, University of South Carolina) and James Kaprielian (2015, UCLA). Since 2013, the Yankees have picked a college player in nine of their last 14 first-round selections.
Hess is the fifth player from the University of Alabama to be a first-round draft pick, joining Joe Vitiello (seventh overall in 1991 by the Kansas City Royals), Jeremy Brown (35th overall in 2002 by the Oakland Athletics), Taylor Tankersley (27th overall in 2004 by the Florida Marlins), and Tommy Hunter (54th overall in 2007 by the Texas Rangers).
A native of Charleston, Ill., Hess was ranked No. 38 overall by Baseball America and No. 44 by MLB Pipeline.
Cunningham, a 6-foot-5, 230-pound right-hander, made 16 starts for Vanderbilt as a junior, posting a 7-4 record with a 4.36 ERA (84.2 IP, 69 H, 49 R/41 ER, 34 BB, 96 K, 14 HR). His 7.33 H/9.0 IP ratio ranked eighth in the SEC, and his 1.22 WHIP was the 11th-lowest. Over three seasons with the Commodores (2022-24), he went 11-8 with two saves and a 4.95 ERA (160.0 IP, 135 H, 102 R/88 ER, 71 BB, 168 K, 28 HR) in 46 games (26 starts).
“We love Bryce because he’s another pick that could have top-end starter potential and has already been tested in the SEC,” said Oppenheimer. “He’s a quality pitcher and a powerful right-hander with a big fastball that can reach up to 99 mph, a good changeup, and a slider that continues to improve. Bryce has continued to get better and credit to him on what he has done on his own, his performance in the Cape Cod Baseball League, and the support he received at Vanderbilt.”
Cunningham, a two-time All-Star in the Cape Cod Baseball League with the Bourne Braves (2022-23), posted a 2.38 ERA (22.2 IP, 6 ER) and 25 K in the summer of 2023.
A native of Headland, Ala., Cunningham was ranked No. 39 overall by Baseball America and No. 63 by MLB Pipeline.
The 2024 First-Year Player Draft continues on Monday with rounds three through ten starting at 2:00 p.m., and rounds eleven through twenty will resume on Tuesday at 2:00 p.m. ET.
