This Orioles prospect is crushing the Arizona Fall League

We're about to enter the final week of the 2024 Arizona Fall League season and it's been an eventful journey for Orioles prospects to this point. The O's sent seven players out to the desert and the majority have looked good in their limited chances.

One guy who's absolutely tearing it up out in Arizona is catching prospect Creed Willems. The 21 year old earned a spot on the Fall Stars squad and appeared in the AFL All Star game over the weekend. Willems has raked out in the desert. In 17 games, he's hit .338/.388/.514 with 2 homers and 11 RBI.

Willems has split time behind the plate for the Surprise Saguaros with Astros' prospect Collin Price. While there were a number of question marks surrounding Willems heading into the Fall League season, the righty has answered the call and come up big in a number of spots.

Orioles' prospect Creed Willems is making a name for himself in Arizona

Willems isn't the number one catching prospect in the Orioles system. He's still considerably behind Samuel Basallo, who is considered by some to be the best prospect in the entire sport. However, Willems is coming off a strong showing in 2021.

He spent the majority of the season at High-A Delmarva, where he posted a .238/.332/.456 line with 13 dongs and strong plate discipline. Willems walked over 10% of the time at High-A and his 20.7% strikeout rate was a great sign for his future development.

Willems received a late-season promotion to Double-A Bowie and he hit well in a small sample of 16 games there. While his walk rate tanked to just under 3%, his strikeout rate actually improved slightly and he knocked 7 extra base hits in just 65 at-bats.

It's unlikely that Willems finds his way to Baltimore in 2025. He still needs a bit more development time, and the O's will surely want him to get a full slate of plate appearances in both Double and Triple-A this upcoming season before they test him at the highest level.

However, Willems' performance in Arizona over the past month has given the Orioles brass a lot to look forward to. His ability to hit the ground running against some more advanced pitching won't go unnoticed. If he's able to keep this pace into 2025 at Double-A, it won't be long before the O's look to move him up a level and push his development forward.

It's possible that the Orioles use Willems as trade bait this winter. Coming off a strong year and a hot performance out in Arizona will certainly push his value up a tick. Whether they're able to take advantage of that, we'll have to wait and see.