On Sunday, the New York Yankees selected two players in the first two rounds of the 2024 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. With their first-round pick (26th overall), the team selected RHP Ben Hess from the University of Alabama. In the second round, the Yankees selected RHP Bryce Cunningham from Vanderbilt University with the 53rd overall pick.
Hess, a 6-foot-5, 255-pound right-handed pitcher, finished 5-5 with a 5.80 ERA (68.1 IP, 60H, 47R/44ER, 35BB, 106K, 13HR) in 15 starts for Alabama as a junior. His team-leading 106K were the fifth-most in a single season in school history and the eighth-most in the Southeastern Conference in 2024. In 33 career games (30 starts) with the Crimson Tide (2022-24), Hess was 12-6 with a 4.81 ERA (138.1 IP, 111H, 84R/74ER, 62BB, 205K, 26HR). During his three seasons at Alabama, he also had the greatest K/9.0IP ratio in school history, with 13.34.
“Ben checks off a lot of things for us,” said Damon Oppenheimer, Yankees Vice President of Domestic Amateur Scouting. “He is exactly what we are looking for as a future top-tier Major League starter. He’s a large, powerful right-hander who can throw two breaking balls and reach speeds of up to 97 mph. We believe Ben will contribute even more to our player development program.”
Hess is only the third collegiate pitcher taken in the first round by the Yankees since 2009, following Clarke Schmidt (2017, University of South Carolina) and James Kaprielian (2015, UCLA). Furthermore, the Yankees have chosen a collegiate player with nine of their last 14 first-round picks since 2013.
Hess is only the fifth player from the University of Alabama to be selected in the first round of the First-Year Player Draft, following 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).
Baseball America listed the Charleston, Illinois native as the No. 38 overall prospect, while MLB Pipeline ranked him at No. 44.
Cunningham, a 6-foot-5, 230-pound right-handed pitcher, made 16 starts for Vanderbilt as a junior last year, going 7-4 with a 4.36 ERA (84.2 IP, 69H, 49R/41ER, 34BB, 96K, 14HR). Furthermore, his 7.33 H/9.0IP ratio ranked eighth among SEC pitchers, and his 1.22 WHIP was the 11th-lowest. Over three seasons with the Commodores (2022-24), he finished 11-8 with two saves and a 4.95 ERA 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,” according to Oppenheimer. “He’s a quality pitcher and a powerful right-hander with a big fastball that can reach 99 mph, a good changeup, and a slider that is improving. Bryce has continued to improve, and credit goes to him for his own efforts, his performance in the Cape Cod Baseball League, and the encouragement he received at Vanderbilt.”
He was a two-time All-Star in the Cape Cod Baseball League with the Bourne Braves (2022-23) and most recently recorded a 2.38 ERA (22.2IP, 6ER) and 25K in the summer of 2023.
Baseball America listed the Headland, Alabama native as the No. 39 overall prospect, while MLB Pipeline ranked him at No. 63.
The 2024 First-Year Player Draft returns on Monday at 2:00 p.m. ET with rounds three through ten, followed by rounds eleven through twenty on Tuesday at the same time.
RHP BEN HESS.
Selection: First Round (26th Overall)
School: University of Alabama.
Hometown: Charleston, Illinois.
DOB: 9/3/2002
Age: 21
Bats: R Throw: R.
Height: 6’5″; Weight: 255 pounds.
RHP Bryce Cunningham.
Selection: Second Round (53rd Overall)
School: Vanderbilt University
Hometown: Headland, Alabama.
DOB: 12/20/2002
Age: 21
Bats: R Throw: R.
Height: 6’5″; Weight: 230 pounds.
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