Ben Peoples

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked Tampa Bay Rays #29 prospect in 2024
  BA Grade: 45/High
  
  Track Record: It’s fair to wonder whether a player like Peoples would ever be drafted in the current minor league structure. It’s not only because he was drafted in a round that no longer exists—the 22nd—but because he was drafted at a time when the Rays had Appalachian and New York-Penn league affiliates. Prior to 2021, the Rays would expect raw prospects like Peoples to spend two or three years climbing the ladder before reaching full-season ball. Instead, he spent two years in Rookie complex ball and spent all of this his fifth pro season at High-A Bowling Green.
  
  Scouting Report: The Rays loved to move high school pitchers at a slow pace under the old minor league system, and Peoples may be one of the Rays’ last pitchers to follow the old development plan. Five years into his pro career, he’s only just starting to display the glimmers of what the Rays saw back in 2019. He has a plus 93-95 mph fastball and an average 85-87 mph changeup that could some day get to above-average. He has now improved his long fringy slider into a more powerful 87-89 mph pitch with modest downward bite. He has fringe-average control and should get to average in time.
  
  The Future: Peoples is a starter for now, but most likely he develops into a reliever who can work up and down in the zone with his fastball and changeup. The Rays didn’t need to protect him from the Rule 5 draft because they rightfully believed no one would consider taking a pitcher so far away. In 2024, he and the Rays hope that will be a more difficult decision.
  
  Scouting Grades Fastball: 60 | Slider: 45 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 45