Wednesday, March 05

Welcome to another edition of the Orioles Beat newsletter, which is landing in inboxes on Tuesdays and Saturdays this spring.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- It’s been easy to spot Creed Willems on the backfields at the Ed Smith Stadium complex whenever the 21-year-old catcher/first baseman has come over from the Orioles’ Minor League camp during Spring Training. The 5-foot-11, 225-pound prospect’s long curly brown hair is his identifying feature.

Willems moved up from No. 21 to No. 12 in MLB Pipeline’s new ranking of Baltimore’s top prospects. He could continue to climb in 2025, as he likely returns to Double-A Chesapeake after playing 16 games at the level late in the 2024 season.

It’s unsurprising that Willems has been an extra body during workouts and a fill-in player during Grapefruit League games (0-for-3 with a walk over three games). The Odessa, Texas, native is a slugger on the rise.

I recently caught up with Willems during one of his visits to MLB camp.

MLB.com: What has it been like coming over for workouts at big league camp?

Willems: It’s awesome. Great group of guys to work with in the catching department, and then just being able to work with [catching instructor Tim] Cossins, guys who have been around it for a long time, has been great.

MLB.com: Which pitchers have you worked with?

Willems: So I warmed up Corbin Martin and [Bryan] Baker, and then caught Carlos Tavera’s bullpen the other day.

MLB.com: Those guys impress you?

Willems: Yeah. I know Carlos. We trained at the same facility in the offseason, so I caught him quite a bit. And then just seeing what these guys got out of the bullpen is special stuff.

MLB.com: How would you assess your 2024 season?

Willems: I was really happy with the way the season went. Had a rough month of May, but I was able to pick it back up throughout the rest of the year and just working to get better every day and just be consistent with it.

MLB.com: You fared quite well in the Arizona Fall League (a .338/.391/.500 slash line with eight extra-base hits in 19 games). What was that experience like?

Willems: It was awesome. Being able to talk and work with a bunch of different orgs and get to know some new people and just pick their brain on certain things, and then when everyone’s out there, it’s a lot of fun. The environment is great. Everybody is just out there to have fun, and I think that was the reason that we were able to bond, is because we were just going out having fun, no pressure, and just wanting to win ballgames.

MLB.com: Do you think it also made you a better player?

Willems: I think it was big. Especially the lefty pitchers I saw out there were really good. That was the one thing I’ve always struggled with was lefty-on-lefty. So being able to expose myself to some new pitchers, new things and stuff like that I think definitely helped me out.

MLB.com: What was the focus of your offseason work?

Willems: I think just consistent ball flight and exposing myself to some new shapes off the machine and stuff like that. Kind of just taken to really working on my approach and where I want to hit the ball on the field and what my sights are.

MLB.com: How about defensively -- what type of work, and do you feel you’ve grown as a catcher?

Willems: I think I’ve grown a lot. I think there’s definitely a lot of work to still be done. Did a lot of blocking and working on footwork and then just trying to dominate the bottom part of the zone and be a lot better with that.

MLB.com: You’re getting closer to the big leagues. How much is that on your mind?

Willems: Ever since I was little I wanted to be in the Major Leagues. I think it’s important to really just take it day by day and be where your feet are. You never know what tomorrow holds, and I think if you allow yourself to get ahead of it, then you kind of lose track of the process and everything. Just trying to maintain what my focus is each day and not try to focus too much on what tomorrow is going to hold.

MLB Pipeline released its updated Orioles' Top 30 Prospects list on Monday, with Samuel Basallo (the No. 13 overall prospect) and Coby Mayo (No. 14) in the top two spots, respectively.

Enrique Bradfield Jr., Chayce McDermott and Vance Honeycutt round out the top five.

MLB.com’s Joe Trezza wrote more about the updated rankings for Baltimore here.

Former Orioles players Mike Devereaux, Leo Gomez and Tom Niedenfuer will be signing autographs at Ed Smith Stadium from 5-6 p.m. ET on Thursday ahead of the Orioles’ Grapefruit League exhibition vs. the Pirates (6:05 p.m. first pitch).

Tickets are on sale now.

During the early weeks of Spring Training, I’ll be using this space to highlight some of the new players in Orioles camp this year. In this edition: Roansy Contreras.

Who is he?

Contreras is a 25-year-old right-hander who was claimed off waivers from the Yankees on Feb. 7. A native of Peralvillo, Dominican Republic, he is a four-year MLB veteran who has pitched for the Pirates (2021-24) and Angels (‘24).

What should you know?

Although Contreras is out of Minor League options and won’t make the Orioles’ rotation, he is being stretched out as a starter this spring because the club likes his arm and wants to give him a longer look. Of his 49 MLB appearances last year, only three were starts.

What did he say?

“In the offseason, I prepared to be a starter. So I’m definitely ready. I came in ready for that.”

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