4 Prospects Who Mashed Wednesday In Arizona

Plus: Geoff Pontes' five early standouts from the Arizona Fall League.

If you like prospects with power, today’s a good BAPR for you. Josh Norris dives into four hitters who impressed him yesterday, then Geoff Pontes goes even deeper on five early standouts exclusively for Baseball America subscribers.

Creed Willems (Photo by Bill Mitchell)

Chase DeLauter, OF, Guardians: Two things are true about DeLauter: He’s had severe trouble staying healthy, but when he does get on the field … he mashes. Those two facts describe DeLauter’s 2024 season perfectly. Injuries limited the 2022 first-rounder to just 39 games in the regular season, but he still hit eight home runs during that limited sample. To make up those lost at-bats, DeLauter is back for his second straight stint in the Arizona Fall League. Last year, he hit five doubles and five home runs while posting a .914 OPS with Peoria. He’s with Surprise this year, and on Wednesday he notched his first home run of the fall. The longball came in the first inning off of Glendale starter Connor Phillips (Reds) and gave his team a quick two-run edge. It was also part of a two-hit day which included a walk, two RBIs and three runs scored.

Moises Ballesteros, C, Cubs: On the second pitch of his seventh-inning at-bat against Peoria’s Nick Merkel on Wednesday, Ballesteros just missed a home run down the line in right field. Two pitches later he got another offering to his liking. This time, he kept it fair. The jolt was the second of the Fall League for Ballesteros, a promising bat-first backstop in the Cubs’ system. Thus far, the 20-year-old is 11-for-26 with two doubles and two homers. Between two upper-level stops during the regular season, Ballesteros hit 19 home runs, nine at Double-A and 10 at Triple-A.

Alejandro Osuna, OF, Rangers: Osuna has been on fire in his second straight stint in the Fall League. The 22-year-old has opened the 2024 campaign with a stretch scorching enough to challenge the desert heat. The trend continued on Wednesday, when Osuna made plenty of hard contact during his Surprise squad’s see-saw win over Glendale. Osuna finished the day 3-for-5 with three doubles and three RBIs while manning center field for the second straight day. Four of the balls he put in play—two doubles and two lineouts—produced exit velocities of 104 mph or harder, including a line drive at 110.7 mph that found leather instead of grass. For the fall, Osuna is 8-for-23 with four doubles and a home run.

Creed Willems, C, Orioles: 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.

Five Players Who Stood Out In The Week Of The Fall League

While the first edition of the Arizona Fall League Hot Sheet covered the majority of top names from the opening week of AFL play, there are still some other standouts who caught our eye. Geoff Pontes dives deep into five of them, including why he’s extremely bullish on Zyhir Hope.

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