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Alex McCoy isn’t a high-profile prospect. Signed as a non-drafted free agent in 2024 out of Hofstra University, the 24-year-old corner outfielder is ranked just 25th in the San Diego Padres system with a 35+ FV. That doesn’t mean he’s without upside. Over 541 plate appearances this season, the Baltimore native left the yard 19 times while logging a 112 wRC+ and a .278/.355/.467 slash line between High-A Fort Wayne and Double-A San Antonio. Last year, in an injury-limited first professional campaign, he put up a 146 wRC+ over 226 plate appearances in Low-A.

McCoy does serious damage when he squares up baseballs. Asked for a scouting update, Eric Longenhagen recently told me that the 6-foot-5, 260-pound slugger possesses “crazy high-end power [with] max exits and 90th-EV markers [that] are plus-plus on the scale.” That came with a caveat. Our lead prospect analyst also said “a lack of feel means the consistency of the contact is not as good… his 66% contact rate is a 30 on the scale.”

McCoy didn’t shy away from the power-hitter label when I spoke to him shortly before his mid-August promotion to Double-A. Even so, he sees himself as more than just an all-or-nothing masher.

“I would say I am [a power hitter],” acknowledged McCoy, whose 2026 ledger included a 9.2% walk rate and a 26.2% strikeout rate. “At the same time, I try to build my game around being gap-to-gap and getting base. Home runs will come if I put a good swing on the ball, but getting base hits plays too.”

Baseball wasn’t the only game he played at Essex, Maryland’s Our Lady of Mount Carmel High School. He also hit the hardwood — “I was actually pretty bad at basketball” — and the gridiron. Both a tight end and a defensive end, he received a walk-on offer to play collegiately, but as McCoy explained, “I didn’t love football like I love baseball.”

“My travel ball team was all African Americans, and I guess we kind of defied the odds with the sport,” McCoy, who is Black, told me. “There is kind of a push to play basketball and football in the African American community, but if you love a sport the color of your skin shouldn’t matter. I was encouraged by coaches to work toward playing at the next level, and that’s what I did.”

Even so, he ended up receiving just a pair of college offers. One was from “a D-II in West Virginia,” the other from Maryland Eastern Shore, where he spent two season before transferring to Hofstra for his junior year. His head coach at the latter institution was “The Cat.”

“I played for Frank Catalanotto,” explained McCoy. “He’s an ex-big-leaguer who played for 14 years, and while I hadn’t been all that great at my first school, he welcomed me with open arms. I talked the game with him, talked approach, and he really encouraged me. He told me that I was going to go on to play at the next level.”

As noted above, that opportunity didn’t come via the typical route. McCoy attended a pro day, where his athleticism and raw tools intrigued scouts, and while the Cincinnati Reds were among those that showed particular interest, he ultimately signed with Padres three days after the draft was completed.

Then came the next challenge, which in all likelihood won’t be his last.

“I didn’t know what to expect in pro ball,” McCoy admitted. “No one really does, in a way. I kind of just went out there to see what I could do, but then ended up straining an oblique and missing a lot of time. The main thing was to get healthy, and from there try to develop as best I could. I wasn’t the best baseball player when I first got to pro ball, but as time has gone on, with the help of my coaches, things have started to unfold.”

McCoy’s making-a-name-for-himself 2026 campaign isn’t yet completed. Along with five other Padres prospects, he will suit up for the Peoria Javelinas in the forthcoming Arizona Fall League season.