The Marlins prospect was rivaling MLB’s elite exit velocities before a sudden injury sidelined his Triple-A tear. Discover why scouts remain mesmerized by his massive power potential.
Kemp Alderman is not only has the Miami Marlins taking notice, but other teams across baseball are taking notice of his ability to drive the ball.
But it appears an injury has temporarily halted his rise.
Alderman left Sunday’s Triple-A Jacksonville game with a wrist injury and was placed on the 7-day Injured List on Tuesday. The injury came at a bad time for Alderman, as the attention was building and fans were anticipating an eventual Major League call-up.
At the 40-game mark, Alderman was slashing .303/.376/.526 with a .902 OPS for the Jumbo Shrimp. The 23-year-old has already accumulated nine home runs, 23 RBI, five doubles, one triple, and five stolen bases in 152 at-bats. Aldermen displayed that power Sunday with two home runs in Jacksonville’s 7-3 victory over the Memphis Redbirds.
The Marlins No. 8 prospect was turning into one of the more dangerous bats in the minors before the injury put his season on pause. Fish on First, an independent digital news outlet that covers the Miami Marlins extensively, stated on Alderman, "He posts exit velocities that rival any other player in the Marlins organization.”
Alderman’s statistics were impressive, but it was his elite exit velocity that grew the hype surrounding him. Alderman sat in the 90th percentile in exit velocity, consistently producing hard-hit batted balls over 110 mph, which would rank him 13th in MLB between De La Cruz and Munetaka Murakami.
Alderman’s ability to constantly produce 105 mph plus exit velocity means the 23-year-old is hitting the baseball with the ability to produce runs. Whether the ball leaves the park or not, his exit velocity gives fielders less reaction time and finds the gaps more often.
Alderman’s power projects even better when considering the larger MLB ballparks. He’s been producing in small ballparks at the minor league level. VyStar Ballpark has an outfield dimension of just 1043 feet. While loanDepot park has outfield dimensions of 1857-feet, along with larger fields at the major league level, where hard-hit balls (exit velocity) can turn into extra-base hits at a higher frequency.
Alderman will still have lots to prove upon his return from injury. As Baseball America noted “improving swing decisions and contact rates against high-level pitching will be critical for his success.”
Once healthy again Alderman will need to rebuild the momentum toward a possible MLB call-up he had going. If he returns as the consistent hard-hitting bat he was before the injury, it could speed up the process and quickly place him back on the radar as a potential option for Miami.
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