Both Of Blue Wahoos Franchise Affiliates, 18 Players Are In MLB Postseason 

So, here we go, Major League Baseball’s new version of March Madness.

After the shortest season, greatly impacted by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the most unique post-season that MLB has ever staged began Tuesday and contains both of the affiliate teams – Minnesota Twins and Cincinnati Reds-- in the Pensacola Blue Wahoos franchise history.

It also currently includes 18 players on five different, active playoff teams’ rosters who wore Blue Wahoos uniforms the past nine years. The National League rosters will be finalized Wednesday morning.

The Twins, who became the Blue Wahoos’ Double-A affiliate in 2019 enter Tuesday’s best-of-three Wild Card Round series against the Houston Astros as back-to-back American League Central Division champions.

The No. 3 seed Twins, who open the 16-team playoff format with a 1:08 p.m. game Tuesday to begin the entire MLB postseason schedule, have five players from the Blue Wahoos 2019 team on their playoff roster.

The latest was added Tuesday morning when outfielder/first baseman Alex Kirilloff was called up to potentially make his MLB debut in the playoffs.

Kirilloff, the Twins’ former first-round draft pick, who spent most of last season in Pensacola, replaces veteran third baseman Josh Donaldson, a Pensacola native, who is injured.

The others from the Blue Wahoos’ 2019 team on the Twins’ playoff roster are pitchers Randy Dobnak and Cody Stashak, catcher Ryan Jeffers, who impressed after his MLB debut Aug. 20, and infielder Luis Arraez, the Twins’ top hitter in 2019.

Pitchers Devin Smeltzer, Jorge Alcala, Jhoan Duran and Edwar Colina, along with infielder Travis Blankenhorn, are part of the 10-player “taxi squad,” in case of injury or other issues arrive. They are now part of the 40-man roster.

The Twins are making their third postseason appearance in four years. As the division champs, all three games of the series will be at the Twins’ Target Field, where they finished 2020 with a 24-7 home record.

“It makes it very worthwhile and you feel like you truly did something and earned something, knowing that you’ve gone through it all to get to this point and we’re not done,” said Twins manager Rocco Baldelli, speaking to media after the Twins clinched the division on the final day last Sunday.

“We’re just getting going right now,” he said. “That’s the mentality and that’s the feel in that clubhouse.”

The Cincinnati Reds, who were the Blue Wahoos affiliate from their inaugural 2012 season in Pensacola through 2018, surged in the past two weeks to reach postseason for the first time since 2013.

Ironically, the Reds earned the spot Friday night in Minneapolis against the Twins when the Wahoos’ past affiliates met in the final series of the 60-game 2020 schedule.

The Reds are the No. 7 seed in the National League and will face No. 2 seed Atlanta Braves in their short series beginning Wednesday. The Reds were 20-26 on Sept. 12 and looked to be out of the postseason picture. But they finished 11-3 with five consecutive series wins.

The Reds have 10 players on their 28-man playoff roster who were former Blue Wahoos players including six pitchers, catcher Tucker Barnhart and three of the outfielders with Nick Senzel, Jesse Winker and Aristides Aquino. One of the pitchers, Luis Castillo, will be the Reds’ Game 2 starter against the Braves.

“We feel like we built momentum at the right time,” said pitcher Michael Lorenzen, who played for the Blue Wahoos in 2013 and 2014, then an injury rehab stint in 2018 during a post-game video interview with media. He won the clinching game Friday for the Reds in a 7-2 win against the Twins.

“Teams that have built momentum going into the playoffs are a dangerous team,” Lorenzen said. “So we have a lot to prove and a team that has a lot to prove is a dangerous team. We are excited about it.”.

Both teams are part of what promises to be an intriguing – and unpredictable – 16 team field to determine the World Series champion.

The MLB postseason will be four rounds, culminating with the World Series on Oct. 20-28 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas – the soon-to-be new home of the Texas Rangers. It will be the first time in MLB history the World Series has been staged at a neutral site.

Here are the former Blue Wahoos players currently on playoff rosters.

MINNESOTA TWINS -- Pitchers Randy Dobnak and Cody Stashak. Catcher Ryan Jeffers. Infielder Luis Arraez. Outfielder Alex Kirilloff.

Pitchers, Devin Smeltzer, Jhoan Duran, Jorge Alcala and Edwar Colina are on the playoff “taxi squad,” along with ex-Wahoos infielder Travis Blankenhorn. Colina and Blankenhorn both made their MLB debuts with the Twins in the final weeks of the season.

CINCINNATI REDS -- Pitchers Luis Castillo, Amir Garrett, Michael Lorenzen, Tyler Mahle, Sal Romano, Robert Stephenson. Catcher Tucker Barnhart. Outfielders Nick Senzel, Jesse Winker, Aristides Aquino.

In addition, former Blue Wahoos infielder Alex Blandino is on the Reds’ playoff taxi squad.

CHICAGO CUBS – Outfielder Billy Hamilton.

LOS ANGELES DODGERS -- Pitcher Brusdar Graterol.

MIAMI MARLINS -- Catcher Chad Wallach. Infielder Miguel Rojas.