Former Blue Wahoos stars have immediate impact in MLB Playoffs
When the Major League Baseball playoffs began Tuesday, the Blue Wahoos had player connections with 19 players across seven of the 12 teams in postseason.
Ten of those players appeared in the opening day of the Wild Card Playoffs. The biggest storyline of Tuesday’s four games was delivered by former Blue Wahoos infielder Royce Lewis, now Minnesota Twins rookie star. He became only the third player in MLB history to hit home runs in the first two post-season plate appearances of his career.
Lewis, the Twins' No. 1 draft pick in 2017, drove in all three Twins' runs in their 3-1 win against the Toronto Blue Jays in their American League Wildcard Playoff Game that ended Minnesota’s 18-game, 19-year, losing streak in post-season, the longest playoff drought of any North American sports team.
Lewis was 5-years-old in 2004 when Minnesota last won a post-season game.
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"This is a moment I dreamed of," Lewis said, speaking the media representatives afterward. "I thought of that Kirk Gibson homer. I thought of the (Twins losing) streak. I thought of everything."
Lewis played in 33 games for the Blue Wahoos in 2019 -- the only season the Blue Wahoos were a Twins affiliate. From that point, adversity hit Lewis beginning with the cancelled 2020 minor league season due to the coronavirus, then back-to-back torn ACL injuries in 2021 and 2022.
Another member of that Blue Wahoos' 2019 team was Miami Marlins’ Luis Arraez, who was among the biggest stars of the 2023 season and a big reason why the Marlins reached the playoffs for the first time in a full MLB season since 2003.
The National League batting champion, battling an injured ankle, collected a hit in Tuesday's 4-1 loss against the Philadelphia. Philles.
He played 38 games for the Blue Wahoos to begin his 2019 season as a rising prospect with the Minnesota Twins. It was the only season the Blue Wahoos played as the Twins’ Double-A affiliate.
Look at Arraez now. At 26-years-old, the Venezuela native became the first player in MLB history to win batting titles in the American and National League in back-to-back seasons.
Only two other players in history had won batting titles in both leagues and one of those played way back in the late 1800’s.
Arraez’ meteoric rise began when he went from Pensacola in May 2019 to a brief stint with the Twins’ former Triple-A affiliate in Rochester, New York, then two weeks later made his MLB debut with the Twins.
In what is now a brilliant trade for both teams, the Marlins acquired Arraez in January in exchange for former Marlins starting pitcher Pablo Lopez, who was the Twins' starting pitcher Tuesday, earning the win.
Arraez had just won the AL batting title in 2022 with a .316 average. Lopez was among the Marlins top pitchers and that has continued all season with the Twins.
This season, Arraez produced one of the greatest batting average seasons by a player in recent MLB history. The Marlins second baseman and MLB All-Star won the NL batting title with a.354 average (147 games), which is the highest in a full MLB season since 2010 when the Texas Rangers’ Josh Hamilton batted .359 in 2010.
“It means a lot," said Arraez, speaking to Miami Marlins media members after clinching the batting title. "I worked hard for this. I worked hard to help my team win, and this is amazing. It's making me happy because I work hard."
The next highest National League hitter this season was Atlanta Braves superstar outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. who hit .337 and became the first player in MLB history this year to hit 40 home runs and steal 70 bases in a single season.
As a side, Blue Wahoos fans may remember that Acuna played in Pensacola against the Blue Wahoos in 2017 and wowed fans in a home run hitting contest duel against the Blue Wahoos’ Gabriel Guerrero on a Monday night before the Southern League All-Star game on Tuesday in Pensacola got rained out.
Arraez left an impression on Blue Wahoos fans in 2019 not only with his production – batting .342 with 50 hits and 14 RBI in 146 plate appearances before getting elevated – but also with his endearing personality. He was always willing to sign autographs and engage in greetings with fans.
This season with the Marlins, he became their first player in franchise history to hit for the cycle, doing so in the 12th game of the season and also kept his batting average near .400 until the MLB All-Star Break. He struck out just 34 times in 617 at-bats in becoming the first player in 16 years to have that kind of ratio.
“Incredible year,” said Marlins manager Skip Schumaker, speaking to Miami media last weekend. “It felt like he was hitting .400 the majority of the year. When he slumped, he hit .360. It's insane to think about.
“Again, he's the heartbeat of our lineup, and it just feels really good when he's in it. It's been not so fun with him out of it lately, but he's one of the better hitters I've ever seen.
“Just the way he manipulates the barrel and controls the strike zone, and he's had a lot of big hits, too, wasn't just like singles. It was walk-off hits and timely hits, and I'm looking forward to seeing him on Tuesday.”
The only concern heading into Tuesday night’s game at Philadelphia was the condition of Arraez’ left ankle, which he sprained on Sept. 23 tripping down the dugout steps. He was held out of the Marlins’ lineup in their playoff-clinching series last week at Pittsburgh, making his only appearance in a pinch-hitter role.
The Marlins remarkable season has created its own piece of significance for the Blue Wahoos.
By earning their way into postseason, the Marlins completed the trifecta of Blue Wahoos’ MLB affiliations in franchise history to reach the playoffs in the same season as the affiliate tie to Pensacola.
The Cincinnati Reds had playoff teams in 2012-2013, their first two seasons of partnership with the Blue Wahoos in the franchise start-up years. The Minnesota Twins were a playoff team, after winning the AL Central Division.
Now, the Marlins in their third season partnered with the Blue Wahoos are in the playoff mix.
With all the talent on display the past decade at Blue Wahoos Stadium, it has formed many connections with players competing this week in the MLB playoffs.
In addition to Arraez, the Marlins have pitchers Edward Cabrera, Andrew Nardi and George Soriano, all of whom played for the Blue Wahoos during either 2021 or 2022 seasons. Plus, reliever A.J. Puk, who spent two weeks on an injury rehab assignment.
Marlins catcher Nick Fortes was part of the Blue Wahoos’ 2021 team as well. And outfielder Jorge Soler did an injury rehab assignment with the Blue Wahoos last season.
The Twins have the next largest representation with five former Blue Wahoos, led by former first-round picks, outfielder Alex Kirilloff and Lewis who joined the Blue Wahoos in the second half of the 2019 season.
The Twins’ pitching connections with the Blue Wahoos include Griffin Jax, who became the first Air Force Academy graduate to play in the Major Leagues, following his season with the Blue Wahoos and further progression the minor leagues.
Tuesday, Jax was on the mound in relief of Lopez and got credited for a hold. The save went to Twins closer Jhoan Duran, who was part of the Blue Wahoos in 2019.
Here is the breakdown of former Blue Wahoos players, which includes players who did injury rehab assignments in Pensacola.
MIAMI MARLINS – Luis Arraez, Nick Fortes, Edward Cabrera, George Soriano, Andrew Nardi, Jorge Soler (injury rehab in 2022), A.J. Puk (injury rehab in 2023).
MINNESOTA TWINS – Alex Kirilloff, Royce Lewis, Ryan Jeffers, Griffin Jax, Jhoan Duran.
TAMPA BAY RAYS – Jose Siri, Robert Stephenson.
MILWAUKEE BREWERS – Jesse Winker
ATLANTA BRAVES – Chad Tromp
LA DODGERS – Brusdar Graterol, Miguel Rojas
TEXAS RANGERS – Mitch Garver (injury rehab with Wahoos in 2019).
Bill Vilona is a retired Pensacola News Journal sports columnist and now senior writer for Pensacola Blue Wahoos. He can be reached at bvilona@bluewahoos.com
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: MLB Playoffs: Former Blue Wahoos take center stage in October
