San Diego Prospect To Participate In AFL Home Run Derby

San Diego Padres' outfield prospect Alex McCoy let it be known early that he would be a problem for opposing pitchers during the  2026 Arizona Fall League season.

Just four days into the league season, McCoy ripped a 112.2-mph single to set the stage for what was coming next. On Oct. 15, he launched a home run that traveled 435 feet thanks to an exit velocity of 118.2 mph, making it the fourth-hardest hit ball in AFL history since Statcast started tracking such data in 2015.

As of Oct. 27, that remained the hardest-hit ball in the league this season, while McCoy ranked second with an average exit velocity of 96.7.

Now McCoy, San Diego's No. 26 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, will get to test his slugging prowess against the AFL's other big boppers as on Tuesday he was listed as one of eight hitters who will participate in the AFL's annual Home Run Derby, which will take place at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale, AZ, on Saturday (5:30 p.m. PT on MLB.tv).

The HR Derby format will see the eight participants face off in a single-elimination head-to-head bracket. Each hitter will start with a 90-second preliminary round and every homer will add one point to his score. All points from each participants’ preliminary round will carry over into the first round. There will be no bonus for distance in any round.

The first round will consist of four head-to-head matches between the eight participants with the No. 1 seed facing the No. 8 seed, No. 2 vs. No. 7, No. 3 vs. No. 6 and No. 4 vs. No. 5. The higher seed will lead off each of the pairings.

McCoy will have to be considered one of the favorites. As of Nov. 3, he had recorded five home runs in AFL play, which tied him for second with the Los Angeles Dodgers' first baseman/third baseman Chase Harlan and New York Yankees first baseman Kyle West, while Kansas City Royals' catcher Jack O'Dowd led the circuit with six bombs.

Overall, McCoy has put together a .283/.409/.660 AFL slash line, good for a 1.069 OPS, which is sixth-best in the league. In addition to his five HRs, he has five doubles, 16 RBIs and 11 stolen bases in 15 games played as of Tuesday.

McCoy's strong AFL performance comes on the heels of a 2026 minor-league season split between High-A Fort Wayne and Double-A San Antonio in which he hit a career-high 19 home runs with 31 doubles, 71 RBIs and 24 stolen bases.

Taken together, McCoy, who the Padres signed as an undrafted free agent out of Hofstra University in 2024, has undoubtedly caught the eye of San Diego's player-development team and stamped himself as a possible future contributor at the MLB level, maybe as early as 2027.