Padres' Catching Prospect Ty Harvey Looking To Make Up For Lost Time In AFL

MLB team send their prospects to the Arizona Fall League for many different reasons. One of the most popular is to get players who were injured more time on the field before spring training commences in February.

San Diego Padres' catching prospect Ty Harvey definitely falls into that category.

Since he was selected in the fifth round of the 2025 MLB Draft by San Diego, his professional career has gotten off to a stop-start beginning because of a string of bad-luck injuries.

Opening the 2026 season at Single-A Lake Elsinore, Harvey found himself on the shelf just two weeks into the season courtesy of a hamstring injury. Then, 10 days after returning to the lineup, he broke his left hand when it was hit during the follow-through of a batter's swing, which knocked Harvey out of action until late July.

When he did finally return to the field, he couldn't find a groove either offensively or` defensively as he finished with a .171 average, .530 OPS and three homers in the season's final 31 games, while, according to MLB.com's Sam Dykstra, it took Harvey "many game reps before he finally felt comfortable again at and behind the plate toward the end of the summer."

That improved comfort has not quite translated to the AFL yet as Harvey, the Padres' No. 4 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, is hitting .143 in nine games for the Peoria Javelinas with a .437 OPS and three RBIs, though he is tied for first with seven stolen bases.

If Harvey's bat has been quiet so far, Padres' outfield prospect Alex McCoy's has been excessively loud. On Oct. 17, McCoy, the Padres' No. 26 prospect, belted a 435-foot home run that featured a 118.2-mph exit velocity, which made it the fourth-hardest hit ball in the AFL since Statcast began tracking exit velocities for the league in 2015.

Overall, McCoy is hitting .250 through nine games with two homers, two doubles and an .869 OPS. He is battling some swing-and-miss issues with 12 strikeouts in 28 at-bats for a 42.9% strikeout rate after he had a 26.2% K rate during the regular season.

San Diego's final hitter on the Peoria roster is utility infielder Justin DeCriscio. In his first seven games and 24 at-bats he had three hits for a .125 average. He has added five RBIs and three stolen bases.

On the mound, Kannon Kemp (No. 13 prospect) is back in the AFL for his second season as a Javelina. Like Harvey, Kemp's year was disrupted by injury and he recorded only 38.2 innings pitched during the season. Through three AFL starts he has thrown 8.2 innings with five earned runs allowed for a 5.19 ERA. His 11 strikeouts are ninth among the league's pitchers.

San Diego's best pitching performance so far in Peoria belongs to Francis Pena. In his first four appearances covering five innings he did not allow a run while yielding three hits and two walks for a 1.00 WHIP with opposing hitters batting .176 against him.

Winyer Chourio (No. 15 prospect) has made two starts with 5.2 total innings pitched and two runs allowed for a 3.18 ERA. He has battled his control some as evidenced by the six walks he has issued in those 5.2 innings.

Rounding out San Diego's mound crew in Peoria are Jordan Valenzuela (four games, four IP, three ERs, 6.75 ERA) and Igor Gil (three games, 3.1 IP, two runs allowed, 5.40 ERA).