When the Chicago White Sox dealt right-hander Adrian Houser to the Tampa Bay Rays at the 2025 trade deadline on July 31st, the return package drew mixed reviews. Former top 100 prospect Curtis Mead was the headliner, but right-handers Duncan Davitt and Ben Peoples brought their own intrigue. Less than a year later, Peoples is starting to draw attention with his strong start.
The 25-year-old was originally drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 22nd round of the 2019 MLB Draft out a Tennessee high school. He is a career relief pitcher with a lean 6’1”, 175-pound frame, a whippy high-slot arm action, and the kind of electric stuff that makes evaluators take notice even if the prospect rankings have not always caught up. This year in Triple-A Charlotte, he is making the White Sox organization look very smart.
Through the early portion of the 2026 season with the Charlotte Knights, Peoples has been nothing short of dominant, with an ERA of 1.40 and 30 strikeouts over 25.2 innings. The comparison to last season is stark. In 2025, Peoples posted a 5.56 ERA in 11 innings, admittedly a small sample size and one clouded by an injury-shortened campaign that included a stint on the 60-day injured list, before ending up unprotected and unselected in the Rule 5 Draft. This year is a completely different story. The stuff appears more refined, the command is sharper, and the results have followed.
Ben Peoples three-pitch mix has high-leverage potential for White Sox
Peoples works with a three-pitch mix: a four-seam fastball, a slider, and a changeup. The fastball is his bread-and-butter and plays up significantly due to his high release slot. The pitch generates nearly 18 inches of induced vertical break and sits comfortably in the 94 to 97 mph range. It is the kind of heater that rides up in the zone and gives hitters real trouble when located properly. The slider usage rate nearly doubles when Peoples is facing right-handed batters, and the results against righties are staggering. The pitch posts an expected batting average of just .104 and a whiff rate of 41.4% against right-handed hitters, making it one of the nastiest put-away offerings in the upper minors. By any metric, it is his best pitch and arguably his ticket to the big leagues as a high-leverage arm. The changeup rounds out the arsenal and gives him a weapon to keep left-handed hitters honest.
1) Ben Peoples - TB
— Thomas Nestico (@TJStats) December 11, 2024
His arsenal is headlined by a plus-fastball, sitting 93-95 MP with solid ride from an over the top release. His lack of innings may deter teams, but his stuff should play well as a RP where he can refine his command and work towards being a starter in 2026 pic.twitter.com/SotjCucehC
Despite the gaudy numbers, Peoples has not yet been called up to Chicago. The most widely accepted explanation is a straightforward roster mechanics issue: he is not currently on the White Sox’s 40-man roster. That distinction matters because a team cannot simply promote a player who is not on the 40-man without first making a corresponding move. The frustration among White Sox fans became particularly acute when the team called up Jordan Leasure to replace Jordan Hicks, who landed on the 15-day injured list with a right lat strain. With Peoples posting a 1.40 ERA and striking out 30 batters in just 25.2 innings, the decision to go a different direction raised plenty of eyebrows on the South Side. It is a head scratcher, no doubt about it, but the 40-man situation appears to be the real reason, not a lack of confidence in Peoples himself.
Peoples ranked in the 96th percentile for Prospect Rating on Prospect Savant, the 93rd percentile in swinging-strike rate, and the 91st percentile in Expected Batting Average. That is a trio of metrics that paint a picture of a reliever with genuine high-leverage potential. The fastball-slider combination out of a high slot is a blueprint that has produced multiple elite closers and setup men in recent memory, and Peoples has the athleticism and arm speed to make it work at the next level.
The question is no longer whether Peoples belongs in the conversation. It is simply a matter of when the White Sox make the 40-man move and bring him up. For a franchise that has been through a historic rebuild, finding a potential high-leverage arm buried in a deadline trade return is exactly the kind of organizational win that front offices are built on. There is no doubt in anyone’s mind watching him pitch in Charlotte right now that Ben Peoples is going to be an impact reliever for this organization one day. Chicago just has to give him the chance to prove it.
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