The Arizona Diamondbacks selected 3 players, including Kayson Cunningham with the No. 18 overall selection, on Day 1 of the 2025 Major League Baseball Draft.
Kayson Cunningham (Round 1; 18th overall) MLB.com bio
INF │ B/T: L/R │ Age: 19 (June 25, 2006) │ 5-10, 182 │ Lady Bird Johnson HS (San Antonio, Texas)
- 14 overall draft prospect by MLB Pipeline.
- 1 draft prospect in state of Texas by MLB Pipeline and Perfect Game.
- 3 high school prospect by Prep Baseball.
- 2024-25 Texas Gatorade Player of the Year, the first San Antonio-area player to earn the award in baseball.
- 2025 Prep Baseball All-American Game MVP.
- 2024 Perfect Game Jackie Robinson Award recipient, presented to the top rising senior player at the All-American Classic.
- 2024 USA Baseball Richard W. “Dick” Case Award for Player of the Year…Tournament MVP and All-Tournament Team at shortstop in the WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup Americas Qualifier…helped lead the team to the gold medal with the go-ahead hit in the championship game…in 8 games, hit .417 AVG/.483 OBP/.542 SLG/1.025 OPS with 3 doubles and 12 RBI.
- As a senior, hit .509 AVG/.607 OBP/.769 SLG with 23 extra-base hits and 27 RBI…was District 27-6A MVP in 2025…was a Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association (THSBCA) First Team All-Star selection…was a 2-time San Antonio Express-News baseball Player of the Year and a 3-time All-Area Team selection.
- MLB Develops participant in States Play in 2023, the High School All-American Game in 2024 and the Dream Series in 2024 and 2025.
- D-backs’ first Texas-based first-round draft pick since Jordan Lawlar in 2021 (sixth overall).
- First San Antonio-area high school player selected in the first round since the Astros selected Forrest Whitley in 2016 (17th overall).
- Father, Marco, was drafted as an outfielder by the Royals in the 2000 draft (27th round) out of Texas Tech…played parts of 4 Minor League seasons from 2000-03, including Double-A in 2002-03.
- Committed to play at the University of Texas.
Patrick Forbes (Compensation Pick; 29th overall) MLB.com bio │Louisville bio
RHP │ B/T: R/R │ Age: 21 (July 11, 2004) │ 6-3, 220 │ University of Louisville (Louisville, Ky.)
- 31 overall draft prospect by MLB Pipeline.
- 2024 USA Collegiate National Team.
- 2024 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team.
- 2023 All-ACC Academic Team.
- As a senior with Louisville in 2025, moved into a full-time starter role and in 15 starts went 4-2 with a 4.42 ERA (35 ER in 71.1 IP), opponent .219 AVG, 34 walks and 117 strikeouts…helped lead the team to the College World Series…led the ACC and ranked third nationally with 14.76 strikeouts per 9.0 innings.
- Over 3 seasons at Louisville (2023-2025), in 41 games (19 starts, went 4-3 with a 4.51 ERA (55 ER in 109.2 IP), opponent .227 AVG, 64 walks and 159 strikeouts.
- Louisville’s 10th all-time first-rounder and highest since 2021 when Henry Davis was taken first overall.
- Played 2 seasons (2023-24) with the Brewster Whitecaps of the Cape Cod League…in 12 games (7 starts), went 1-2 with a 2.90 ERA (10 ER in 31.0 IP), 16 walks and 42 strikeouts.
- As a senior at Bowling Green (Ky.) High School, named 2022 Kentucky Mr. Baseball …rated as No. 1 player in Kentucky and named Kentucky State Player of the Year by Perfect Game…MaxPreps First Team All-American…hit .563 with 15 home runs as a hitter and posted a 2.36 ERA as a pitcher.
Brian Curley (Third round; 92nd overall) MLB.com bio │Georgia bio
RHP │ B/T: R/R │ Age: 22 (June 1, 2003) │ 5-10, 212 │**University of Georgia (Athens, Ga.)**
- 102 overall draft prospect by MLB Pipeline.
- As a junior transfer with Georgia in 2025, earned All-SEC Second Team honors and was named to the SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll…made 17 appearances (10 starts), going 4-4 with 2 saves, a 3.55 ERA (28 R-26 ER in 66.0 IP), an opponent .179 AVG, 27 walks and team-high 85 strikeouts in 66.0 innings…began season as a closer and then moved into the starting rotation in mid-March, going 3-3 with a 3.66 ERA league play.
- Named a 2025 preseason All-American by the NCBWA (First Team) and D1Baseball.com (Second Team) and was on the NCBWA Stopper of the Year list.
- Played his first 2 collegiate seasons (2023-24) with Virginia Commonwealth University, where he combined to go 8-3 with a 3.59 ERA (43 ER in 107.2 IP) over 30 games (3 starts)…named 2024 All-Atlantic-10 Conference First Team.
- Was a 16th-round draft pick by the Pirates in 2024 but did not sign.
- A 2022 graduate of Trinity Episcopal School in Richmond, Va., where he played both baseball and golf for the Titans.