The Banana Ball Player Tearing Up the Big Leagues
Sportsnaut · Lincoln Zdunich · 2026-08-27T14:15:19+00:00 · nguồn gốc
Prior to 2026, Tristan Peters had spent five years grinding in the minor leagues. He had been bounced around between four different organizations and never quite found his stride. He struggled in his first three seasons, posting a career-best .279/.363/.433 slash line in 2022 but nothing ever went beyond that. Then, in 2024 he started to unlock some power, knocking in 12 homers with the Tampa Bay Rays’ Triple-A club in 2024 and 15 more in 2025. Then, Peters was traded to the Chicago White Sox this offseason in an under-the-radar trade with Tampa Bay. It didn’t make headlines despite coming just after the Winter Meetings concluded. But the Sox seem to have seen something that nobody else did.
The First Savannah Banana
Peters is famous for being the first player in Banana Ball to reach the big-league level. He played 17 games with the Savannah Bananas in the summer of 2021 before being drafted 201st overall by the Milwaukee Brewers. Peters made his debut in 2025 for the Rays, playing in four games. He didn’t record a single hit and never reached base in 12 at-bats, striking out a whopping seven times. Then Peters was traded to the Sox. This was an organization that had a much easier route to a big-league job. Chicago was coming off of consecutive seasons with 100-plus losses and their outfield had plenty of empty spots.
Peters was given an invite to Spring Training and impressed enough to earn a spot on the Opening Day roster. He hit .270/.333/.514 with an .847 OPS. Sure, he was a bench/utility player and not a starter. But, for the first time in his life, Peters broke camp with a major-league organization. It was an incredible accomplishment. Peters took that role and ran with it. He posted insane numbers, slashing .301/.354/.478 with six homers before the All-Star game. That earned Peters an All-Star nod.
A Post All-Star Hangover … Or Maybe Not?
Since the All-Star break, Peters has slowed down a bit. He’s slashing .239/.328/.468 across the last 37 games. That said, most of that is due to a tough July in which Peters hit just .218 with a crippling .643 OPS. In August, he’s turned it up a notch. Through 23 games this month, Peters is slashing .349/.438/.730 with an otherworldly 1.168 OPS. His last 15 games have been even better, hitting .404/.472/.894 with a 1.366 OPS. He’s knocked in six home runs in that time and has been a huge reason as to why the Sox have held onto first place ahead of the Cleveland Guardians.
The Streak
On August 22, Tristan Peters hit a home run off of the New York Mets‘ starter Christian Scott. The Sox lost 10-5, so it didn’t make any headlines. Then, on August 23, Peters knocked another one out of the park versus the Mets new closer Kodai Senga. This one made plenty of headlines. It was a walk-off for Chicago, giving them the series win over New York on a one-out, two-run shot. It was a beautiful hit too. Peters launched a 3-1 four-seamer into center field. It just cleared the wall. But streaks are fickle like that, they require a pound of skill and an ounce of luck.
On August 24, Peters hit a homer off of Texas Rangers starter Kumar Rocker. It again didn’t make headlines because Chicago got blown out by Texas in an 11-2 loss. Peters’ two-run shot was all that the Sox could muster that night. The following night, Peters hit a solo shot to cap off an 11-7 victory over the Rangers. This one made headlines, with Peters being a triple away from hitting for the cycle. All the attention was now on Peters as his streak came to four games. Seven White Sox players had hit home runs in five consecutive games, Peters was on the verge of being the eighth. He was also on the verge of tying the record for the longest consecutive homer streak by a rookie.
Peters With a Drive Into Right
And then, it happened. Tristan Peters hit his fifth home run in as many games. He did so with his first career homer off a left-handed pitcher. That shot tied the MLB record for consecutive games with a home run by a rookie. That feat has been accomplished 13 times before. No one has ever made it to six consecutive games. The current record for a non-rookie sits at eight, and it will likely never be broken. Ken Griffey Jr., Dale Long and Don Mattingly share the title, with each having accomplished the feat.
Can he keep it up? It’s unlikely, but plenty of things are and happen anyways. It’s certainly not sustainable, though it seems possible that Peters could at least make it one more game. The Sox have an off day on Thursday before facing the Minnesota Twins in the first game of their road trip on Friday. Dean Kremer will start the game for Minnesota. He is one of the biggest fly-ball pitchers in the league, with 35.2 percent of his balls put in play being fly balls and a whopping 61.7 percent being put in the air. That bodes well for Peters. Besides, sustainability isn’t necessarily what everyone will be hoping for on Friday night. Immortality is.