BINGHAMTON — In a normal year, Elijah Dunham almost certainly would have heard his name called during the MLB draft.
But the pandemic threw normalcy out the window. In 2020, the MLB draft was cut from 40 to five rounds. That meant just 160 picks. Dunham, coming off his junior season of college, would not be one of them. And perhaps even before the shock and dejection began to wear off, Dunham realized he had just gotten all the motivation he needed to turn himself into an all-around player who wouldn’t be overlooked for much longer.
“I think that fueled a little fire in me,” Dunham said earlier this month. “I thought I should have made the draft. I went to work. I did the things that were the reason why I didn’t for sure make it. Now we’re here.”
“Here” is Double-A Somerset in the Yankees’ minor league system, where the 24-year-old outfielder is opening more eyes after doing the same with a standout performance in the Arizona Fall League last year. Dunham still ranks as just the Yankees’ No. 26 prospect, per MLB.com, but if his hunger to improve and the work he’ll put in to do so are any indication, he may well be forcing his way up those rankings before long.
