Tristan Peters’ All-Star Selection Is One Of The Best Stories In Baseball

Tristan Peters is a 26-year-old Canadian outfielder who was originally recruited from a community college in Arizona to play for the Savannah Bananas. He was drafted in the seventh round after a standout season at Southern Illinois University and bounced between three different organizations before landing with the White Sox, coming over in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Through 89 games, Peters is slashing .303/.357/.486 with six homers and 35 RBIs while posting a 133 OPS+. On defense, he has racked up 9 Outs Above Average, with a fielding run value that ranks in the MLB's top four percentile.

Peters hit for the cycle by collecting a double in the third inning, a single in the fourth, a 410-foot home run in the seventh, and then hustled out a triple later in that same inning by diving headfirst into third base to beat the throw. He became just the seventh player in White Sox franchise history to hit for the cycle, the first Canadian to do so since 2011, and only the fifth player in MLB history to accomplish it from the nine hole in the batting order.

Peters hit a walk-off single in the White Sox home opener against the Blue Jays, delivered a go-ahead homer in the Crosstown Classic, broke up Yoshinobu Yamamoto's no-hit bid with a ninth-inning homer, and launched a grand slam during the White Sox's 22-1 blowout of the Kansas City Royals.

No, there were actually questions about whether Peters would even make the White Sox Opening Day roster, and he was viewed more as a role player during Spring Training. He has since become one of the team's most impactful players and one of baseball's biggest surprises this season.