Orioles’ Creed Willems Shows Off Big-Time Juice

Baltimore backstop prospect Creed Willems is one of his system’s sneakier prospects. The 21-year-old slammed 21 doubles and 17 home runs in 98 games between High-A Aberdeen and Double-A Bowie, making him one of just five players his age or younger to hit 20 or more doubles and 15 or more home runs in fewer than 100 games. He’s also one of just two in that group to do so while striking out fewer than 100 times. On Wednesday, he showed off the thump that helped him produce those numbers. Facing Dodgers lefty Kelvin Bautista, Willems took a 95 mph fastball and hammered it over the wall at Camelback Ranch, just to the left of dead center field. The longball produced an exit velocity of nearly 107 mph and traveled well past 420 feet. The blast was part of a two-hit day for Willems, who is now 8-for-21 thus far in the Fall League.