Wilson: Peters to hone skills in Venezuela this winter
Okotoks Dawgs alum Tristan Peters (Winkler, Man.) was a standout for the Tampa Bay Rays’ triple-A Durham Bulls last season.
*This article was originally published on Alberta Dugout Stories on December 2, 2024. You can read it here.
December 3, 2024
By Ian Wilson
Alberta Dugout Stories
Tristan Peters is used to taking the plunge.
The outfielder made a name for himself with the triple-A Durham Bulls by making spectacular diving catches in the International League.
He’s also been known to jump at the opportunities he’s been presented with during his baseball career.
It’s that mindset that has him hopping on a plane for South America to take part in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League this winter.
“I’m pumped. This whole offseason I’ve been excited to play. I’m excited to go to Venezuela just so I can play again, because I do love the game,” said Peters during an interview with Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast.
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Listen to Alberta Dugout Stories interview Tristan Peters here.
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“I want to go in not caring too much about results, and just getting the right feel and seeing maybe, if I get good results, if I can carry it into the season. For example, I want to grip the bat a little more lightly, be a little more slow and get to the high pitch a little better this year, see if I can’t get a little more power out of that because a lot of pitchers these days are throwing the ball up.”
Peters admits he’s been reluctant to pursue winter baseball opportunities in the past, but he’s now eager to try it out.
“Honestly, I was very opposed to winter ball in the beginning of my professional career, just because I was like, why would you want to play more? We already play 120 games, more than that even, but I found at the end of the year this year I didn’t really want to stop playing and so I wanted to get some more at bats,” said the Winkler, a Manitoba product.
“I think it’s cool to experience another culture, too, so the plan is to go to Venezuela … I just want to experience a little different atmosphere, too. I know they love baseball in those Latin countries, so I’m really excited for that and to learn some more things about the game.”
The travel and the pursuit of fresh baseball opportunities are nothing new for Peters, who left Manitoba to train at Dawgs Academy in Okotoks, Alberta as a teenager.
“I’ve always just kind of been like that. Ever since I went to Okotoks I’ve been living out of a suitcase. That’s just become part of my life. It’s almost not normal for me to be in one spot, which is more challenging now that I’m married and hope to have a family in the coming years,” said Peters, who won a Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) championship with the Dawgs in 2019.
“There’s stresses about it, but I like to say yes to opportunities. If there’s an opportunity that’s going to present itself, I don’t want to miss out on it … I like to jump into things and see where it takes me. It’s kind of fun to not know what’s going to happen, but it’s also kind of stressful.”
The outfielder was originally drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the seventh round of the 2021 Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft.
He was traded twice in 2022, first from the Brewers to the San Francisco Giants for pitcher Trevor Rosenthal in early August, and then to the Tampa Bay Rays for utility player Brett Wisely in mid-November.
The lefty slugger spent the 2023 season at double-A with the Montgomery Biscuits, where he had a .275 batting average and a .361 on-base percentage, while scoring 65 runs, registering 46 runs batted in (RBI), hitting 22 doubles, swiping 14 bags and smacking seven home runs over 93 games.
This year he got one step closer to realizing his MLB dream by playing 123 games with the Rays’ triple-A Durham Bulls.
In his 408 at bats, Peters batted .238 with 67 runs, 21 doubles, 12 homers and 46 RBIs.
“I like my power numbers, home runs were better, I walked a little more, there’s still a lot to be worked on. My average went down a lot, but I think there was a lot of experimentation this year, just stuff with my swing,” said Peters in assessing his season with the Bulls.
“Performance-wise, stats-wise, I’m not super happy with it. It’s not terrible, but definitely a lot to build on. But I learned a lot about failure and how to deal with that. I got to talk to a lot of experienced guys who’ve played in the major leagues.”
In making the adjustment from Double-A to Triple-A, Peters noted the pitchers were better at locating their pitches, but he said the level of play was close to what he expected.
The steepest learning curve came in handling adversity over the course of the season.
“Just dealing with the failure, you’re going to fail in this game, and just not taking it so hard. I’m pretty hard on myself and I know a lot of players are … you can’t let it consume you and make it your identity either,” said Peters, who was named the 2019 WCBL Rookie of the Year and Playoff MVP.
“You’ve got to love the game, otherwise you’re never going to be able to play. We play so many games now. If you don’t love the game, it’s going to expose you. In times that are hard, you have to love the game to get through it – I love the game even when I hate it, if that makes sense. You’re going to have rough patches, so just be able to handle that failure, accept it for what it is.”
ALL THE SMALL THINGS
In addition to working through setbacks and learning not to get too frustrated by failure, Peters said there were other adjustments that he worked on with the coaching staff.
“There was a lot of mechanical things that we worked on this year and maybe I would argue that there was too many things that we worked on, and it got overwhelming, but sometimes it’s literally just the smallest fix, like where your hands are on the bat, how your grip is on the bat, where your foot is, your hands are too high or an inch too low now or something like that. It’s often just the littlest things,” said Peters.
“People can get in the way of themselves by focusing too much on the mechanical movements of a swing. We all got to this point because we have good swings and a lot of it is just hit the ball. Timing is everything.”
During his exit interviews with coaches, Peters was told to hit the weight room and continue to build strength over the off-season.
“They want me to work on just getting stronger, trying to hit for more power, just drive the ball more consistently. I think that’s important but another part I don’t want to lose is my contact ability and still I want to limit the strikeouts, that’s my personal goal, but I do definitely want to drive the ball a lot harder and more often,” said Peters, adding he is playing around with his bat grip to see if he can extend his swing and get “a little more whip out of it.”
Peters spent some of the fall back in Okotoks, where he spoke with Dawgs Academy students, worked on his swing and spent time in the weight room.
One area that Peters has gained attention for is his defensive play in the outfield, where he made a number of highlight-reel diving catches in 2024.
“I really enjoy the outfield, a lot more than I thought I would. I was always an infielder growing up and in high school here in Okotoks,” noted the Foothills Composite High School grad.
LAYING IT ALL OUT THERE
The coaches in Durham spent a lot of time working with Peters and the other outfielders on first-step quickness, which allows them to get to fly balls faster.
“I focused a lot on that and I found that really focusing on the batter and expecting the ball to come to you is the most important part to get that first-step quickness. I think that really helped me this year, and also not being afraid to take risks,” said Peters.
“I remember we were in Charlotte, North Carolina and my outfield coach (Jared Sandberg) was just, like, ‘Just take more risks. Who cares if you drop it? You’ve got other outfielders with you, they’re covering.’ So, I did that and I think I made one of my first diving catches of the year there and from then on I just had that mindset of taking risks.”
Peters – who studied at Chandler-Gilbert Community College and Southern Illinois University prior to embarking on a career in professional baseball – said he’s learned when to take chances and when to play it safe.
“I feel like I’m pretty good at determining whether I should risk it. It completely depends where the game is at, like what the score is at, how we’re looking, are the bats hot. If we’re way ahead then I don’t mind taking a risk, if we’re way down then I might take a risk to stop the bleeding, but if it’s a close game and there’s nobody covering me I’m going to play it safe unless I know I can catch it ninety percent of the time,” he said.
Looking ahead to 2025, Peters said a roster spot on the Rays is there for the taking.
“Yeah, I think it is. I think it is for everybody in triple-A. You’re so close and sometimes it feels like you’re so far at the same time. You can definitely just smell it and you want it really bad,” he said.
“You’ve also got to stay where you are, otherwise you get too caught up in that and you lose sight of other things, and then your career just kind of goes down. You can’t focus on it too much, you’ve just got to stay focused on where you are, I think that’s the main thing.”
For now, his focus is on getting better for next season.
“I think it’s just proving to them that I can hit for more power while not sacrificing too much contact abilities and just being more consistent in that area, too, and not wavering mentally,” said Peters.
“Outfield-wise, I just want to stay where I’m at and maybe increase my speed a little bit more. Maybe steal a few more bases this year, just challenge myself and not be so afraid to get thrown out or something like that and just be more confident.”
Sounds like Peters is ready to make that next leap.