Top Baltimore Orioles Catching Prospect Selected for Arizona Fall League

The Baltimore Orioles will send eight of their intriguing prospects to the annual postseason event in Arizona.

Apr 21, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Baltimore Orioles hat and glove sits in the dugout during the ninth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. / William Purnell-Imagn Images

The Baltimore Orioles will send one of their Top 30 prospects among the eight players selected to participate in the Arizona Fall League, which starts after the conclusion of the Major League regular season.

Baltimore has one of the most respected farm systems in baseball and no shortage of great, young players to send to the AFL.

The Baltimore prospects selected were catcher/first baseman Creed Willems, right-handed pitchers Zane Barnhart, Tyler Burch, Preston Johnson and Houston Roth, left-handed pitcher Juan Rojas and outfielders Jake Cunningham and Douglas Hodo III.

Willems is the only Top 30 prospect among them, ranked No. 22 by MLB Pipeline.

The 21-year-old was Baltimore’s eighth-round pick in 2021 out of Aledo, Texas. His batting numbers have gotten better with each professional season and this year he had a slash line of .243/.322/.462/.784 as he reached Double-A Bowie. He hit 17 home runs for the second straight minor-league season and also drove in 65 runs.

Cunningham is another member of the Orioles’ vaunted outfield pipeline, with its most recent star rookie Colton Cowser, who could be the American League Rookie of the Year.

The 22-year-old Cunningham was Baltimore’s fifth-round pick in 2023 out of Charlotte and he’s hoping to use the AFL as a bounce-back of sorts after he finished this year with a slash line of .220/.312/.308/.620 with four home runs and 35 RBI. He also stole 29 bases.

He finished the season at High-A Aberdeen and did bat .268 in 20 games.

Baltimore will play with the Surprise Saguaros in Surprise, Ariz., the spring training home of both the Kansas City Royals and the Texas Rangers. The Orioles prospects will play alongside prospects from the Rangers, Royals, Cleveland Guardians and Houston Astros.

The other five teams in the AFL play in Glendale, Mesa, Peoria, Salt River and Scottsdale.

AFL action starts on Oct. 7 and since it was founded in 1992 more than 3,000 players have participated and moved on to the Majors at some point.

During the season, there are several special events, including a tripleheader at Goodyear Ballpark on Oct. 19, a game at Grand Canyon University on Oct. 25 and a doubleheader at American Family Fields of Phoenix on Oct. 26.

The Fall Stars game is set for Nov. 9 at Sloan Park, with the annual home run derby set for Nov. 8.

When the season concludes on Nov. 14, there will be a play-in semifinal game between the second- and third-place finishers in the standings on Nov. 15 at Scottsdale Stadium. The championship game is held the next day at Salt River Fields.