CHICAGO (AP) — A day after becoming the seventh player in White Sox history to hit for the cycle, Chicago outfielder Tristan Peters was named to the American League All-Star team as a replacement for injured Athletics slugger Nick Kurtz.
Kurtz, who was set to start at first base for the American League at next week’s All-Star Game, went on the 10-day injured list Saturday with a right thumb sprain. The move is retroactive to Friday. Kurtz did not play
in the Athletics’ 14-1 loss to the White Sox in Chicago.
Peters joins White Sox teammates Miguel Vargas and Munetaka Murakami on the 2026 All-Star roster. Murakami, a rookie slugger from Japan, was added Friday just hours before he returned to action against the Athletics after missing six weeks with a right hamstring strain.
Still a rookie at 26, the speedy, slick-fielding Peters is batting .303 with six homers and 35 RBIs is his first full major league season. He has 20 doubles and three triples; the most recent came in the seventh inning of Chicago's rout of the Athletics on Friday that made Peters the first White Sox player to hit for the cycle since Jose Abreu in September 2017.
The White Sox purchased Peters' rights last December from Tampa Bay. He appeared in only four games with the Rays last season without a hit in 12 plate appearances, but the one-time Savannah Banana has taken off in Chicago.
“The White Sox gave me this opportunity and I went into it just trying to make the most out of it and just be who I am as a player, too," Peters said. “I know there was a lot of bunting in the beginning and just trying to figure out who I am at the big league level and you know they give space for that, too. Just an incredibly supportive group and that's helped me thrive.”
A native of Winkler, Manitoba, Peters became the second Canadian to record a cycle. He joins Cleveland right-hander Cade Smith and Miami infielder Otto Lopez, who holds dual Canadian-Dominican citizenship, as Canadians on the 2026 All-Star roster.
Peter's said becoming an All-Star was a pipe dream at the start of the season. But after several months, he thought it might become a possibility.
“I guess toward the end of this first half, I was like ‘OK, maybe there's a chance,' but there's a lot of really, really talented players in this league," he said.
Kurtz is batting .266 with 20 home runs, 66 RBIs and a league-leading 76 walks. The 23-year-old was the AL rookie of the year last season, when he batted .290 with 36 homers and 86 RBIs.
He landed on injured list for the second time in his career after being sidelined with a strained left hip flexor in May 2025.
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