Ty Harvey’s trip to the Arizona Fall League is about getting back some of what the regular season took away.
The Padres’ catching prospect came into the year with momentum after San Diego made him a fifth-round pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, but his first full professional season was derailed almost immediately. Harvey was shut down just two weeks into the 2026 season at Single-A Lake Elsinore because of a hamstring injury. Then, after he returned for only 10 days, he broke his left hand when it was hit during the follow-through of a batter’s swing, sending him back to the injured list until late July.
Even after he made it back, the game didn’t come easily. Harvey closed the season with a .171 batting average and a .530 OPS, plus three home runs over his final 31 games. As MLB.com's Sam Dykstra noted, it took Harvey "many game reps before he finally felt comfortable again at and behind the plate toward the end of the summer."
That comfort hasn’t fully shown up yet in Peoria. The Padres’ No. 4 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, is batting .143 in nine AFL games for the Peoria Javelinas with a .437 OPS and three RBIs. The bright spot: he is tied for the league lead with seven stolen bases.
Harvey isn’t the only Padres prospect trying to make noise in the desert. Outfielder Alex McCoy has done the opposite of sneaking up on people. On Oct. 17, the Padres’ No. 26 prospect launched a 435-foot homer with a 118.2-mph exit velocity, the fourth-hardest hit ball in the AFL since Statcast started tracking exit velocities in 2015.
McCoy is hitting .250 through nine games with two homers, two doubles and an .869 OPS. The downside has been the swing-and-miss, with 12 strikeouts in 28 at-bats for a 42.9% strikeout rate after he posted a 26.2% K rate during the regular season.
The Padres’ third hitter on the Peoria roster is utility infielder Justin DeCriscio, who has three hits in his first seven games and 24 at-bats for a .125 average. He has also driven in five runs and stolen three bases.
On the pitching side, Kannon Kemp is back in the AFL for a second season with the Javelinas after an injury-shortened year in which he logged only 38.2 innings. The Padres’ No. 13 prospect has thrown 8.2 innings over three starts, allowing five earned runs for a 5.19 ERA. His 11 strikeouts rank ninth among league pitchers.
Francis Pena has posted the strongest line of any San Diego arm in Peoria so far. Across four appearances and five innings, he hasn’t allowed a run, has given up three hits and two walks, and owns a 1.00 WHIP while holding opponents to a .176 average.
Winyer Chourio, the Padres’ No. 15 prospect, has made two starts and logged 5.2 innings, allowing two runs for a 3.18 ERA. Control has been an issue, though, with six walks in those 5.2 innings.
Jordan Valenzuela and Igor Gil complete the Padres’ group in Peoria. Valenzuela has appeared in four games and worked four innings, allowing three earned runs for a 6.75 ERA, while Gil has pitched in three games and thrown 3.1 innings with two runs allowed and a 5.40 ERA.
In Other News...
Padres Prospect Justin DeCriscio Is Forcing His Way Onto The Radar
Justin DeCriscio keeps adding to his case at a time when the Padres are always looking for young players who can push their way into the conversation. After going undrafted in 2024 before landing with San Diego as a 10th-round pick in the 2025 draft, he has used the Arizona Fall League to show why his name is starting to circulate a little more loudly. The blend is obvious enough: some offensive progress, enough speed to stand out, and the kind of defensive flexibility that lets a club imagine different ways to use him.
The latest jolt came with a three-run home run, the sort of swing that gets attention beyond a prospect report. DeCriscio has also been moving around the field, which only adds to the sense that he can help himself by staying adaptable, but the bigger question remains how his bat holds up against more advanced pitching. For a player who has already taken an unusual path just to get drafted, this fall is becoming an important test of how far that late momentum can carry him. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Suddenly Have A Shot At A Power Bat Worth Debating
Hanshins decision to post Teruaki Sato has put a potential power bat on the market just as the Padres continue weighing ways to deepen their lineup. San Diego is among the teams considering a run at the slugger, whose appeal is obvious enough: he offers the kind of offensive upside that can change the shape of a batting order, but landing him would come with real financial baggage in both a contract and a posting fee.
For the Padres, the question is not simply whether Sato can hit, but whether his power translates cleanly to MLB pitching and where he would fit defensively. Manny Machado is expected to stay at third base, which means San Diego would have to map out another role for Sato if it moves forward, making this as much a roster puzzle as a talent evaluation. [Read more 🡒]
Jackson Merrill Quietly Built A Padres Breakout Fans Should Notice
Jackson Merrills 2026 season ended with the kind of across-the-board production that usually turns heads around the league, even if it took a while to fully show up. During a year in which only six players reached the 25-homer, 25-steal mark, the Padres had two of them, with Merrill joining Fernando Tatis Jr. in that club after a strong finish helped reshape how his season looked on paper.
The first half was uneven enough that Merrills overall numbers still settled closer to league average than star level, but the second half told a different story. He hit .304/.339/.569 after the break, added 16 homers and eight steals, and closed the year with 26 home runs and 27 stolen bases, a reminder that his breakout came less with a bang than with a steady climb the Padres could not ignore. [Read more 🡒]