Skip to main content
Inside The Padres

Padres Prospect Steals Home Run Derby Show With 503-Foot Blast

The 24-year-old outfielder continues to put his name on the prospect radar in the AFL.
J.P. Hoornstra|
A San Diego Padres hat and glove in the dugout prior to the game between the Miami Marlins and the San Diego Padres at loanDepot park on July 23, 2021.
A San Diego Padres hat and glove in the dugout prior to the game between the Miami Marlins and the San Diego Padres at loanDepot park on July 23, 2021. | USA TODAY Sports

In this story:

San Diego Padres

Alex McCoy didn't win the Arizona Fall League's Home Run Derby on Saturday, but he hit the home run that everyone was talking about.

McCoy, who finished the regular season by hitting four home runs in 25 games at Double-A San Antonio, rocketed up the San Diego Padres' system to become a name to watch in 2026. The 24-year-old outfielder was then selected to participate in the Arizona Fall League, and was a logical participant in Saturday's Home Run Derby.

In 17 games for the Peoria Javelinas, McCoy has five home runs. Only two players in the AFL have hit more. Anyone who's been watching McCoy's moonshots clear fences in the desert would not have been shocked to see his fence-clearing, 503-foot blast in the first round Saturday.

It was the longest home run hit by any of the eight Derby participants. It was longer even than the deepest home run hit in this year's MLB Home Run Derby, a 491-foot bomb by the Tampa Bay Rays' Junior Caminero into the left-field bleachers at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

McCoy lost in the first round of the Derby to eventual champion Aaron Parker, a Toronto Blue Jays prospect. But his latest AFL exploit is another feather in his cap in what's turning into an eventful offseason for the Padres' No. 26 prospect (according to MLB Pipeline).

McCoy has already been turning heads against actual pitchers in the AFL, which gathers the top minor league prospects from all 30 teams.

McCoy's .977 OPS is 17th among all AFL hitters. His 11 stolen bases (on 13 attempts) are tied for seventh. His .384 on-base percentage is boosted by 10 walks in 73 plate appearances, and reflect his improving patience at the plate.

McCoy was signed as an undrafted free agent out of Hofstra in July 2024. In parts of two minor league seasons, he's slashing .289/.367/.484 across four levels of the Padres' system. A promotion to Triple-A seems possible, if not likely, for McCoy in the next year.

Regardless, the AFL campaign has put his name on the prospect map. The Baltimore native is 6-foot-5 and 260 pounds. It's remarkable that he's been overlooked at all to this point.

McCoy now will be impossible to miss on a baseball field in 2027.

Sign up for our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X/Twitter for the latest news.

Add us as a preferred source on Google
Published
J.P. Hoornstra
J.P. HOORNSTRA

J.P. Hoornstra is an On SI Contributor. A veteran of 20 years of sports coverage for daily newspapers in California, J.P. covered MLB, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Los Angeles Angels (occasionally of Anaheim) from 2012-23 for the Southern California News Group. His first book, The 50 Greatest Dodgers Games of All-Time, published in 2015. In 2016, he won an Associated Press Sports Editors award for breaking news coverage. He once recorded a keyboard solo on the same album as two of the original Doors.

Share on XFollow jphoornstra
Home/San Diego Padres News