Former Blue Wahoos Chasing World Series Hopes In 2025 MLB Playoff Matchups
The Blue Wahoos have a solid connection in Major League Baseball’s post-season. There are 10 former Blue Wahoos players on six of the 12 teams in the playoffs, including three position starters, a starting pitcher and one of the game’s top relievers. Four players are part of division championship teams
The Blue Wahoos have a solid connection in Major League Baseball’s post-season.
There are 10 former Blue Wahoos players on six of the 12 teams in the playoffs, including three position starters, a starting pitcher and one of the game’s top relievers.
Four players are part of division championship teams – Seattle, Toronto, Philadelphia -- that are awaiting opponents from the Wild Card playoff round that ends with deciding games Thursday. On Saturday, the divisional series begin in both American and National League.
Among the 10 players, leading the way is San Diego Padres’ first baseman Luis Arraez, a three-time MLB batting champion, who just keeps on hitting. He had two hits Wednesday as the Padres forced a deciding third game in their Wild Card playoff series with a 3-0 win against the Chicago Cubs.
As a rising prospect in 2019, Arraez played 38 games for the Blue Wahoos – the only year the Blue Wahoos were a Minnesota Twins affiliate. He was batting .342 in May of that season when elevated to Triple-A and on his way to big league stardom.
The other former Blue Wahoos player making a big impact on his playoff team is Philadelphia Phillies reliever Jhoan Duran. Acquired by the Phillies on July 30 before the trade deadline from the Minnesota Twins, Duran has smoothly transitioned his success into becoming the Phillies top closer and one of baseball’s best on the NL East Division champs.
Duran began his pitching climb as a starter with the Blue Wahoos in 2019. After being elevated to Pensacola from the Twins’ High A affiliate in Fort Myers, Duran made seven starts for the Blue Wahoos with a 3-3 record.
In addition to the 10 players on active playoff rosters, five other former Blue Wahoos are on the injured list with their playoff team. Those players are former Gulf Breeze High star Ben Lively (Cleveland Guardians), Brusdar Graterol (Los Angeles Dodgers), Bryan Hoeing (San Diego Padres), Brennan Bernardino (Boston Red Sox) and Sean Gunther (Detroit Tigers).
Other former Blue Wahoos players connected to playoff teams earlier this season are not on the 26-man playoff roster of that team. The group is led by 35-year-old outfielderBilly Hamilton, who is playoff-eligible, but left off the Cubs playoff roster following his season in Triple-A with the Iowa Cubs.
Catcher Will Banfield, who made his MLB debut August 23 with the Reds, was not on their playoff roster. He had 10 at-bats with one hit in his MLB games.
Relievers Sean Reynolds (Padres) and Jovani Moran (Red Sox) ended seasons in Triple-A and didn’t make playoff rosters.
Here’s a look at who is still playing and with Blue Wahoos’ ties.
AMERICAN LEAGUE TEAMS
Seattle Mariners – Pitcher Luis Castillo, catcher Mitch Garver.
Castillo is one of the starters in the Mariners rotation. He’s 11-8 this season in 32 starts with a 3.54 ERA. He wowed as a Reds prospect for the Blue Wahoos in 2017 when he started in 14 games, compiled a 2.58 ERA and helped Pensacola to a Southern League co-championship.
Garver played in Pensacola in 2019 on an injury rehab assignment when he was the Twins’ top catcher. He played three games at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
Toronto Blue Jays – Pitcher Tommy Nance. He played six combined games for the Blue Wahoos on injury rehab assignments when he was on the Miami Marlins roster.
NATIONAL LEAGUE TEAMS
Cincinnati Reds – Outfielder TJ Friedl, Pitcher Tony Santillan.
Friedl had a solid 2025 season as the Reds’ mainstay centerfielder. He played in 152 games compiling a .261 average with 14 homers and 53 RBI. He played for the Blue Wahoos in 2018, the final year of the Reds’ affiliation in Pensacola. In 67 games that season he had a .276 average with two homers and 16 RBI.
Santillan became a workhorse of the Reds bullpen in 2025, appearing in 80 games (73.2 innings pitched) with a 1-5 record, a 2.44 ERA and seven saves. In 2018 as a Reds prospect, Santillan was a starter for the Blue Wahoos, making 11 appearances with a 4-3 record and 3.61 ERA.
Los Angeles Dodgers – Second Baseman Miguel Rojas, Catcher Ben Rortvedt
Rojas, 36, a member of the Blue Wahoos inaugural 2012 team, is the veteran leader of the Dodgers. He completed his 12th MLB regular season by appearing in 114 games, batting .262 with seven homers and 27 RBI. He becomes a free agent at the end of this year, so this could be his final ride. With the Blue Wahoos, he played 58 games in 2012, batting only .210 with 10 RBI, zero homers.
Rortvedt was a trade-deadline addition to the Dodgers organization after beginning the year with the Tampa Bay Rays. After an injury to Dodgers’ catcher Will Smith, Rortvedt was called up from Triple-A on September 10 and started Game 1 Tuesday of the Dodgers playoff win against the Reds. He’s played 18 games for LA, batting .224.
Rortvedt was part of that 2019 Blue Wahoos team as a Twins prospect, playing in 55 games with a .239 average, five homers, 19 RBI.
Philadelphia Phillies – Pitcher Jhoan Duran.
After joining the Phillies, Duran is performing just as the Phillies hoped as a dominant closer. He’s set career highs this season in games pitched (72) and innings (70). He has 16 saves in 23 appearances. It matches the number of saves he had with the Twins earlier this season in 49 games. Duran was a starter with the Blue Wahoos on the 2019 team as a Twins prospect and had 41 strikeouts against just nine walks in 37 innings pitched.
San Diego Padres – First baseman Luis Arraez, Pitcher Wandy Peralta.
This was slump year for Arraez. Just kidding. He batted .292, his lowest batting average in seven MLB seasons. But it was still the 12th best batting average across both leagues in Major League baseball. On August 19, The Sporting News published a story on Arraez comparing him to NBA superstar Steph Curry in terms of connection success. The story pointed out that Arraez had a 92.4 percent contact rate on nearly 6,000 swings in his MLB career as compared to Curry making 91.1 percent of his free throws – an NBA record – on 4,442 attempts.
Both astonishing. He wowed in a short stint with the Blue Wahoos in 2019, collecting 50 hits in 146 at-bats and striking out just 13 times.
Peralta completed his 10th MLB season, making 71 appearances as a middle reliever with a 6-1 record and 3.14 ERA. As a Reds prospect, he played two seasons for the Blue Wahoos (2015, 2016), a total of 42 games as a reliever.