Baltimore Orioles Could Have Another Elite Catching Prospect On Their Hands

With another solid performance in the Arizona Fall League, the Baltimore Orioles might have yet another rising star at the catcher position.

Shorebirds' Creed Willems (35) runs home against the Cannon Ballers Tuesday, April 11, 2023, at Perdue Stadium in Salisbury, Maryland. The Shorebirds defeated the Cannon Ballers 7-2. Bbm Delmarva Shorebirds Kannapolis Cannon Ballers / Lauren Roberts/Salisbury Daily Times / USA TODAY NETWORK

Even though a good amount of elite prospects have reached the Major League level for the Baltimore Orioles the past couple seasons, they still have one of the best pipelines in all of baseball.

While they may no longer hold the top spot in farm system rankings, there is still plenty of players in the minors who have a potential to become impact players for the Orioles at some point in their careers.

It's well documented that the next potential star who could arrive soon is Samuel Basallo.

Ranked No. 2 in their pipeline behind only Coby Mayo, the 20-year-old catcher has been a fast riser ever since he signed with Baltimore as an international free agent in January 2021.

Whenever he gets called up to The Show, which is projected to be at some point next season, that will give the Orioles a potent one-two punch behind the plate alongside Adley Rutschman.

While there is a lot of excitement surrounding Basallo, there could be another potential star at that position on the farm as well.

Joe Trezza of MLB.com highlighted the top performers of Week 5 at the Arizona Fall League currently taking place, and Creed Willems cemented himself as a standout player by going 5-for-10 with a homer and three RBI.

"You can make the argument that Willems has been the most productive offensive catcher on the circuit for a while, but this week it was no contest. The 21-year-old posted an impressive .545 on-base-percentage and .800 slugging percentage for the week," he wrote.

The catchers continue to impress within this organization.

What makes the performance of Willems in the AFL even more promising is that he's not even the highest-ranked prospect at the position behind Basallo.

Ethan Anderson, who was a second-round pick during this past draft, sits 13th after coming off a strong 19-game stretch while Willems is listed at No. 22 in Baltimore's pipeline.

There has been some talk that Basallo could convert to first base at some point in his career so his bat will be in the lineup more often based on Rutschman being their long-term catcher, and if that's the case, Willems could eventually find himself being the primary backup at some point.

It will be interesting to see how the 21-year-old looks during this upcoming season.

Last year, he reached Double-A for the first time during a campaign where he slashed .243/.322/.462 with 17 homers, 40 RBI and 65 RBI across his 98 games and 346 at-bats.