Marlins prospect Alderman crushes 119.5 mph (!!) home run in Arizona Fall League

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Kemp Alderman has been putting on a power show in the Arizona Fall League. But on Friday, he managed to one-up himself and set a new slugging standard for the showcase circuit.

The Marlins' No. 12 prospect hit a 119.5 mph, 443-foot homer in Peoria's matinee against Salt River.

Yes, you read that correctly. 119.5 mph.

The two-run, fourth-inning dinger, which came on a 1-2 slider from Nationals right-hander Chase Solesky, had the highest exit velocity measured in a Statcast game during the AFL's first two weeks. It surpassed the previous best EV of 116.8 mph, also set on an Alderman homer back on Oct. 10. In fact, it was the hardest-hit ball by any Minor Leaguer in a Statcast game this season, including Triple-A and Florida State League games. It's also the hardest-hit Statcast ball in Arizona Fall League history, eclipsing Eloy Jiménez's 119.4 mph groundout on Oct. 13, 2016.

Expand the search to include Major Leaguers in 2024, and only Oneil Cruz and Giancarlo Stanton have hit balls harder than 119.5 mph. Even Shohei Ohtani topped out at 119.2.

Alderman's six homers through eight games for Peoria lead the Fall League. No one else in the six-team loop has more than four, as of Friday afternoon. The right-handed slugger went deep five times in his first four games but had been homerless in three straight contests before breaking that streak.

The 2023 second-rounder has some of the best raw power in the AFL, rivaling Top 100 prospects Jac Caglianone and Xavier Isaac for that distinction. A broken left hamate bone limited him to 77 games during the regular season, and the 22-year-old managed just a .242/.306/.391 line and eight homers across four levels (primarily Single-A Jupiter and High-A Beloit) in that span.

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Alderman headed to the Fall League to make up for some of those lost at-bats but will take a brief leave of absence in late October when he gets married and honeymoons in Antigua. Maybe AFL pitchers will be celebrating too.

"I mean, this is the best of the best competition. It's a great opportunity," Alderman told MLB.com's Jesse Borek last week. "It's kind of like Spring Training, you know, you roll out, backfield-game-playing against guys. You don't really have a scouting report just going up there and playing ball. … It's awesome."