eye on …

Mississippi Braves outfielder Todd Cunningham entered this season, just his second full year in pro ball, rated by Baseball America as the No. 16 prospect in Atlanta’s system. The 23-year-old Alabama native has only improved his stock. The switch-hitting Cunningham, playing for an offensively challenged M-Braves club, is batting .308 with a .347 on-base percentage, 31 RBIs, 35 runs and 12 stolen bases in 72 games. He often hits leadoff and usually plays center field. BA rated him the best defensive outfielder in the organization in 2011. Atlanta center fielder and leadoff man Michael Bourn is a free agent after this season, so the Braves might be looking to fill that role as early as 2013. Cunningham may not be ready by then, but he certainly is worth keeping an eye on. Drafted in the second round out of Jacksonville State in 2010, Cunningham came with a reputation as a pure hitter. He won two summer league batting titles as a collegian and hit .359 his junior year at Jacksonville State. He batted .260 at low Class A Rome in 2010 and .257 at high-A Lynchburg last season, but the bat has awoken this summer at the more challenging Double-A level. That’s a good sign.