Peters hot at bat

Have yourself a week, Tristan Peters.

Nearly two decades after Corey Koskie recorded the final hit of his big-league career, another Manitoban is beginning to write his own story at the highest level.

If the past seven days are any indiciation, it’s going to be a real page-turner,

Peters, the pride of Winkler, started this MLB season with a bang, belting his first career hit last Saturday in Milwaukee — a line-drive double to left field off Brewers right-hander Chad Patrick.

“Super pumped,” the 26-year-old outfielder for the Chicago White Sox told the Free Press this week in a telephone interview from the Windy City.

“To finally be able to get my first hit, that was a very exciting moment.”

Turns out he was just getting warmed up. Peters followed it up with six more hits over the next five games — including a game-winning walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the 10th inning on Friday afternoon against the team he grew up cheering for, the Toronto Blue Jays.

That’s quite the dramatic way to get your first RBI. Peters was mobbed by his White Sox teammates after the biggest swing of his young career off closer Jeff Hoffman led to the 5-4 final, improving his team’s record to 2-5.

In the process, he’s raised his average to .350 (7-for-20), with all of the damage coming in the past seven days.

Compare that to last year, when Peters was with the Tampa Bay Rays organization and went a combined 0-for-12 during a pair of late-season call-ups over four games.

Admittedly, some doubt began to creep into his head. Was he just destined to be a solid player at the Triple-A level but nothing more?

“Sitting on that for a whole off-season, not knowing when the next time I’m going to be up… you’re definitely thinking about it,” said Peters.

“When you’re trying to get that first one, you’re definitely tightening up a little bit, and you’re really just trying super hard to get it, even when you say you’re trying not to do that.”

So what changed? A December trade from the Rays to the White Sox didn’t hurt. Peters’ path to regular playing time in Tampa Bay was likely blocked by the fact they had 10 other outfielders on their 40-man roster, including several veterans.

That wasn’t the case for Chicago, which is in a full-blown rebuild and looking for some younger players to take on more prominent roles.

“Definitely there’s a ton more opportunity,” said Peters. “Granted, it wasn’t easy either to make this team. There’s a lot of great players here, too, but it’s definitely a younger team, just more openings.”

Confidence is such a big thing in baseball, as Yogi Berra famously summarized when he stated the sport is “90 per cent mental. The other half is physical.”

For Peters, getting that first hit out of the way was like a weight off his shoulders.

“It’s kind of a confidence booster, like, ‘Oh yeah, I can definitely do this,’” he said.

Peters takes great pride in being the first Manitoban since Koskie — who hails from Anola and was a major inspiration to him — to make his mark in MLB and snapping a 20-year provincial hitless “drought” in the process.

“Very honoured. There’s a very select few people (to make it from the province), and I definitely think about that a lot,” he said.

“I know there are a lot of people supporting me back home. It’s just really cool and really encouraging.”

There’s a touch of serendipity in Peters’ first hit coming against Milwaukee — the team Koskie played for on July 4, 2006, when he hit a two-run homer for his 936th and final big-league hit.

Unfortunately, a severe concussion suffered the very next day while diving for a ball ended Koskie’s nine-year pro career, which began with the Minnesota Twins, included a stop with Toronto and finished with Milwaukee.

Peters was actually drafted by Milwaukee in 2021 (seventh round, 207th overall) after finishing his collegiate career at Southern Illinois. He was traded to San Francisco in August 2022 for pitcher Trevor Rosenthal, then to Tampa Bay three months later for infielder Brett Wisely.

Now, his third swap seems to have been the charm.

To say these last few weeks have been a whirlwind for Peters would be an understatement. His wife, Erin, just gave birth a month ago to their first child, a girl. It happened while he was in spring training with the White Sox down in Arizona.

“Chaos,” Peters said with a laugh.

“It’s definitely been a challenge juggling all of it. I think we’ve done a pretty good job of handling it all. I’m feeling pretty comfortable with baseball, and my wife is just a superstar.”

The family of three is now apartment hunting in Chicago, with the hope that Peters might just be sticking around for a while, rather than heading to the White Sox Triple-A affiliate down in Charlotte, N.C.

“We weren’t sure where we were going to end up. The day before we broke camp, that’s when they told me that I made the team. And so it’s been crazy ever since,” said Peters.

“We’re just living in a hotel right now. But I feel like I’ll be here for a good amount of time at this point.”

While Peters is thrilled his bat is heating up, his bread-and-butter is his defensive acumen. There’s no shortage of highight-reel catches on his resumé at the Triple-A level.

“That’s a huge part of my game. I focus on it a lot,” he said, noting last year’s success in the minors (.266 with 15 home runs, 28 doubles and 76 RBI in 136 games with the Durham Bulls) proved he can be a solid, multi-tool player.

“I think I kind of put myself on the map a little more,” he said. “I don’t think I’d be here if I didn’t have the year I had last year, right?”

Peters is now excited to be playing in the Central Division, which brings him a lot closer to home — especially when the White Sox visit Minnesota, as they’ll do at the beginning of June. Expect a large delegation from southern Manitoba to make the trip.

More than anything, he’s embracing this chance to prove he’s now where he belongs and in a great sports city like Chicago as well.

“It’s all just super cool,” he said.

“We’ve got a great group of guys, and a very talented group, too. It’s a very exciting team to be a part of, and just a great opportunity.”

winnipegfreepress.com/mikemcintyre