Somebody had to be taken in the last round of the draft. This year, the Cubs 20th pick was left-handed pitcher Wilson Cunningham from JSerra Catholic High School, a powerhouse school in California. Cunningham is going to be what we call a long-term project.
Basic Information
Age – 18
Position – LHP
Height – 6-foot-8
Weight – 185
Throws – Left
What I Said on Draft Day
He’s committed to the University of Chicago. He’s a National Merit Scholar so he’s slouch in the classroom. I doubt if he makes it to the Cubs.
Yup, I got that way wrong!
Cunningham wound up signing with the Cubs in a creative deal. The prepster from California will be attending the prestigious University of Chicago and the Cubs are pretty much going to pay for him to go there. While Cunningham did get a $10,000 signing bonus, the deal includes the Cubs paying most of his expenses to go to the University of Chicago and that could be worth up to $300,000.
In return, Cunningham’s going to spend his summers playing professional baseball with the Cubs. That means from mid May-to-mid August for the next four years, Cunningham’s going to pitching in games that count just three months a year. However, he will be on a weight training and throwing program while at school. The fact that he’s only gonna play three months a year should not detract from his development.
Greg Zumach of Ivy Futures sat down with Wilson and discussed exactly how the plan will work.
“I will be at school full-time student at school, and I’ll be training remotely with the Cubs. It does also helps to be in Chicago with the staff there. I’ll be on the lifting [and] throwing program. I’ll be checking in with people,” Cunningham said. “Then over spring break and over the summers (and maybe even some long weekends here and there), I’ll be in Arizona with the ACL Cubs as a full-time baseball player.”
What the Cubs like about Cunningham is that he’s a 6-foot-8 lefty who has a lot of potential even with his lack of experience at the high school level. He did come from the prestigious JSerra program and he did flash some skills that the Cubs can build around.
Cunningham, for right now, throws in the mid 80s with his fastball. He uses his arms and legs to hide the ball and distract the hitter. When the pitcher is only 215 pounds in his size, it’s as if all arms and legs are coming right at you.
He did not get in any games in Mesa this year and I expect him to begin 2022 working things out in spring training extended spring training and the Arizona League, or whatever it’s going to be called. It’s possible he could find his way to Myrtle Beach at some point next summer, but Cunningham‘s development is going to be a glorified project. The Cubs are going to try and build that mid 80s fastball up into the low 90s. And who knows where things are going to go from there.
With only three months of playing time the next three summers, the Cubs won’t really get an extended look at him until 2025 when he is slated to graduate with a bachelor’s degree. The Cubs will still have him under contract through 2027 which is a long time to develop a pitcher. Considering that he does have long limbs, it’s only fitting they will be taking a long time to bring him ………..along.
Cubs Central 
Todd, super series! Thanks.
This is the most video I have seen of Cunningham, talk about all arms and legs. But that can work, as Madden used to say “I like a little funk”.
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