Peete looks to stay hot in AFL after capping strong Double-A campaign

Just as Tai Peete earned the promotion to Double-A Springfield on Aug. 4, another opportunity came his way. 

Cardinals Minor League outfield coordinator Ryan Ludwick approached Peete (Cards’ No. 17 prospect per MLB Pipeline) and told him the organization wanted him to play in the Arizona Fall League. As Ludwick put it, they wanted Peete to be “their guy.”

Peete, a 21-year-old acquired in February as part of the return for trading Brendan Donovan to Seattle, is St. Louis' top position-player prospect in the AFL. After a scorching end to the 2026 season, when he batted .319 with an .849 OPS in 21 games for Springfield, Peete has his eyes on a strong stint with the Peoria Javelinas.

“For me, I want to be able to stay as consistent as possible, stay on my approach,” Peete told MLB.com in a phone interview. “I've been staying on that this year, and I'm just trying to go through the rest of the season and finish it out strong.”

“I think on the organization side, they want me to do the same thing. Get more reps under my belt and get more ABs, and stay comfortable with my own approach, my own self and learn my identity as a ballplayer.”

With Peete’s emergence, and plenty more talent, St. Louis has emerged as a top-five farm system per MLB Pipeline. Peete was less than three years removed from being the 30th overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft when he was shipped to St. Louis. He saw the trade as a “good thing,” knowing the Cardinals wanted him if they traded an All-Star in Donovan to acquire him.

Peete’s successful 2026 campaign didn’t come without plenty of road bumps along the way. 

In late May, Peete was sick. The illness caused him to miss two and a half months of the season and spend multiple weeks in the hospital back home in Georgia. 

“It was a grind. I lost about 25 pounds I put on within a week, so that was a big deal,” Peete said. “But the other part was mentally getting through it, and the rest of the year just fighting that off and playing through things.”

As Peete healed, the first thing he asked out of the hospital was how soon he could return to the field. The answer was one week, when he went to Jupiter, Fla., and rehabbed for a month before returning to action.

The comeback, as Peete put it, was all mental. He had a chai tea before a few games to add some energy. Eventually, Peete returned to form.

“I'm grateful to be on the field for here, and I'm grateful to be healthy now,” Peete said. “So the past couple of months have been good. I just want to keep that going.”

Peete found success by returning to the approach that got him to the professional level. His 2026 season featured two cycles in High-A and a 5-for-5 postseason game in Double-A. Former Major Leaguer and Trinity Christian head coach Tommy Gregg remembers scouts contacting him about Peete during his junior campaign at the school in Sharpsburg, Ga. 

Peete had a “loop” early on in his swing, but he learned to shorten up, using the entire field to display his power. The power only grew as his professional career got closer.

“I remember him hitting a home run that probably landed about 60 to 80 feet over the fence, and it went into the teacher's parking lot and broke one of the teacher's windshields,” Gregg said. “And the ball stuck in the windshield. And she came out and she laughed so hard. She took pictures with him and had him sign the ball. So he's just one of those kids that has an impact on anybody he meets and talks with. He's just contagious.”

Gregg actually coached in the AFL in 2013 while with the Royals’ organization, and he helped develop Austin Hedges and Chris Taylor into MLB players. He sees the AFL as a fun time but also a place for Peete to be recognized. 

Peete believes he’s the same player physically as he was at the beginning of 2026. Mentally, he’s getting more comfortable with himself and who he is as a player.  

The key stat for Peete is simple: play as much as possible. When he’s on the field, the rest follows.

“I like to play loose. I like to play fun,” Peete said. “I'm not one of those guys that needs to be super serious on the field. I enjoy the game. So at the end of the day, this is my true passion.”