Woodpeckers to Watch for in the MLB Postseason

The Houston Astros are back in the postseason for an eighth consecutive season and begin their run towards a World Series title on Tuesday afternoon in a best-of-three American League Wild Card Series against the Detroit Tigers. Six former Fayetteville Woodpeckers are on the Astros postseason roster with details below:

C Yainer Diaz

Diaz spent a brief 12-game stint with the Woodpeckers after being traded over from the Cleveland Guardians in 2021 in exchange for outfielder Myles Straw. He was quickly promoted to High-A Asheville where he closed out the season batting an incredible .396 with 11 homers over 25 games. Diaz played his first full major league season in 2023 at 25 years old and became just the seventh Astros rookie ever to hit at least 20 home runs in their first season (23 total). During the 2024 season Diaz ranked second on the Astros with 84 RBI and tallied the most hits of any catcher in the majors with 175.

SS Jeremy Pena

Pena had a headline-grabbing rookie year in 2022 where he earned ALCS MVP and World Series MVP during the Astros title run. The 27-year-old shortstop played in 43 games for the Woodpeckers in 2019 and batted .317 with 13 doubles, two home runs and 13 RBI. He was also a member of the Woodpeckers postseason roster in 2019 and a big offensive contributor hitting two home runs and two doubles across ten games. This season in the majors Pena played in 157 games for Houston and slugged 15 homers while setting a new career-high with 70 RBI.

OF Jake Meyers

Meyers was drafted in the 13th round out of the University of Nebraska in 2017 and played in 87 games for Fayetteville during the 2019 inaugural season. In High-A he hit .258 with 8 home runs, 41 RBI and compiled a .336 OBP before earning promotion to Double-A Corpus Christi. Myers debuted with Houston in 2021 and has now played in 361 total big league games across four seasons. During the 2024 regular season, Meyers batted .219 and set career-high marks with 20 doubles and 13 home runs across 148 total games.

RHP Bryan Abreu

Bryan Abreu made a quick trip through Fayetteville in 2019. The Santo Domingo Centro, Dominican Republic native started three games and struck out 25 hitters over just 14.2 innings in High-A. He went on to debut with Houston later that season with seven games out of the bullpen and has remained in the Houston bullpen over the last six seasons. Abreu appeared in a career-high 78 games this season and struck out 103 batters across 78.1 total innings. He enters the postseason off his best month of the year, pitching to a 1.54 ERA over 11 relief outings during September.

RHP Spencer Arrighetti

The sixth round pick out of the Louisiana-Lafayette program from 2021 became the first of eight former Fayetteville Woodpeckers to debut in Major League Baseball this season. Arrighetti received the call on April 10th and made his first start in the majors on the road in Kansas City against the Royals. He showed flashes of elite swing-and-miss stuff, notably striking out 13 Boston Red Sox on August 10th at Fenway Park. Arrighetti spent his time with the Woodpeckers at the tail end of the 2021 season, pitching to a 2.79 ERA over 9.2 total innings and striking out 16. Arrighetti is slated to pitch out of the Astros bullpen during the American League Wild Card Series.

INF Zach Dezenzo

The former Ohio State Buckeye has hit at every level of the minor leagues since appearing in Fayetteville during the 2022 season following an 11th round draft selection. Dezenzo slugged .402 with four HR, three doubles and 15 RBI over 27 games in Fayetteville to start his pro career, and stretched those numbers to a .295 career average at the plate across 173 minor league contests. The sizeable 6’5” / 220 LB corner infielder made his MLB debut on August 6th and has slashed .242/.277/.371 over 19 games with Houston.