John Peck snapping out of AL slump is exactly what Tigers wanted to see after rough start

The Arizona Fall League is a great opportunity for teams to see what kind of talent they truly have in their system. This year, the Tigers sent several big-time prospects like Zyhir Hope and Bryce Rainer, as well as a guy with some major league experience in John Peck, who they’re hoping perks up after a lackluster 2026 MLB debut.

It hasn’t been a great performance for either of the top prospects, nor has it been smooth sailing for Peck, who hit just .162 with no home runs and seven RBI in 24 games with the Tigers.

To say his debut was underwhelming would be the understatement of the century.

Because of that, Detroit sent him to the AFL to give him some extra at-bats and maybe see that confidence rise. Unfortunately, he got off to a horrendous 2-for-31 start, but he finally showed signs of life on Thursday, snapping out of his slump with a 3-for-5 performance. He had a home run, a double, a walk, a steal, and five RBI.

You couldn’t draw out a better way to snap out of a lengthy slump than to finish a triple shy of the cycle while batting in five runs and stealing a base — he did it all.

That’s exactly what AJ Hinch and Scott Harris wanted to see when they sent him to the AFL. Now, he just has to show that it wasn’t a fluke and he can do this on the regular. If he strings together a streak after this breakout performance, hands can slowly start moving away from the panic button.

John Peck was already at a disadvantage

Peck was one of the top prospects in the Tigers’ system but he didn’t get the same fanfare as guys like Hope, Rainer, Cameron Flukey, Max Clark, or Max Anderson. He wasn’t in that top-10 prospect range, but he was on track to make his way to the majors and with all the injuries that Detroit suffered, he got his shot.

However, because he wasn’t a big name, he needed to play at a high level like Eduardo Valencia and Hao-Yu Lee did when they got to Detroit.

Unfortunately, he didn’t meet his own expectations.

In 24 games, he went 11-for-68 at the plate with just one extra base hit and 16 strikeouts. He didn’t just hit .162, he also only had an on-base percentage of .275 and a team-worst .176 slugging percentage. He was downright bad at the plate, which is wild considering he hit .285 with 10 home runs and 44 RBI in 58 games in Double-A and .476 with a homer and three RBI in six games with Triple-A Toledo.

The lackluster debut followed by struggles to begin the Arizona Fall League had people wondering how he had made his way to Detroit so effortlessly.

Not being one of those big names in the Tigers’ system as a seventh-round pick in 2023, Peck had to fight his way to the big leagues. Now he has to fight his way to stay, and his breakout game on Thursday in the AFL could be the start of that.

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