In a few short months, there will be a new member of the Bonds family who will be striking fear into professional pitchers. Rutgers University outfielder Peyton Bonds, who is the nephew of Barry Bonds, is playing his way up draft boards during his junior season. The 6’5″ right-handed hitter has gotten progressively better with each college season, and with five conference series remaining, he is one of the top sluggers in the Big Ten.
Bonds MLB Draft Outlook
After spending his freshman season at Campbell University and posting a .768 OPS in 41 games, Bonds took his talents to Piscataway to play for the Scarlet Knights. In his sophomore season, he didn’t take the big step in his development that everyone expected, but he still posted strong numbers, hitting .300 with five home runs, 40 RBIs, and 16 stolen bases. Following a very brief stint in the Cape Cod League, Bonds entered this season with high expectations, and so far he has lived up to them.
Perfect Game named the junior outfielder to their Preseason All-Big Ten team, and on March 20th, they ranked him as the 142nd-ranked prospect for the 2026 MLB Draft. When scouts update those rankings, the Scarlet Knights standout has a good chance of moving up the board, as he leads the team in hits while boasting a .358 average with six home runs, 28 RBIs, and 13 stolen bases.
In terms of advanced stats, Bonds has managed a 131 wRC+ and .442 wOBA, both of which rank inside the top 30 in the Big Ten. For someone with projectable power like Bonds, the junior outfielder also does a good job limiting strikeouts. According to FanGraphs, Bonds has a 12.7% strikeout percentage this season, and, for comparison, the player scouts’ projection as the number one pick, Roch Cholowsky, has a 12.6% strikeout percentage.
Scouts are going to appreciate the limited whiff rate coming from a guy who posted an exit velocity of 121 MPH in the team’s series with Indiana. Between his speed, which should keep him in center field in pro ball, his power potential, and his strong bloodline, Bonds is likely to land somewhere in the third round for a team that wants a projectable player under slot value.
Things To Watch for the Rest of the Season
In what was a good opportunity to do some damage against fellow high-end draft talent, trainers removed Bonds from a game against UCLA after diving for a ball in the outfield. Since leaving the first game of the series, the Scarlet Knights’ leading hitter has missed four consecutive games, and the team has not issued a report on his availability for the team’s series against Penn State.
Even if the injury is not serious enough to be long-term or season-ending, Bonds will need to hit the ground running again when he does return to the lineup. The standout from Franklin, NJ, will want to get as many opportunities to showcase his talent in front of scouts moving forward, so an injury, mixed with Rutgers’ limited chances of making a deep postseason run, could hinder that.
If Bonds can return quickly from the injury, then he has a good chance of continuing to outdo the numbers he posted in his sophomore year. One of the more impressive statistical marks Bonds can reach is an OPS over 1.000, as his current OPS sits at .981, which is over 100 points higher than his sophomore year, and is another strong indicator of the improvements he’s made to fly up draft boards.
Main Photo Credit: Jack Gruber, USA TODAY Staff
