Creed Willems 2022

[CharmCityHokie]

5 minutes ago, seak05 said:

I think he's had glasses for a while, but never worn them playing baseball. I have wondered about Cowser needing an eye exam though 

Yea, that's how I interpreted it as well, it's just strange to me that it's generally discussed how one of the hardest things to do in sports is hit a professionally pitched baseball because everything is happening so quickly, so it would seem logical that you'd want your players to have the best vision possible and therefore encourage them to wear their glasses/contacts from the get-go. I may be reading way too much into it as well...

[LookinUp]

40 minutes ago, CharmCityHokie said:

I've worn glasses/contacts all my life, I'm not blind without them but I sure as heck use them for anything beyond just going out to get the mail. 

As a middle aged man whose eyesight has recently started to nosedive, I'm very uncomfortable with glasses. If they weren't part of his upbringing, I can see how it would be the same for Creed.

I know it might seem obvious for a baseball organization and/or a hitter, but sometimes you need an epiphany to make a seemingly obvious decision.

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, LookinUp said:

As a middle aged man whose eyesight has recently started to nosedive, I'm very uncomfortable with glasses. If they weren't part of his upbringing, I can see how it would be the same for Creed.

I know it might seem obvious for a baseball organization and/or a hitter, but sometimes you need an epiphany to make a seemingly obvious decision.

As a middle age man whose eyesight have recently started to nosedive, I'm cool with being able to see things at work. 

[Frobby]

I always hated wearing glasses while playing sports, because even the slightest jiggling while you’re moving makes it hard to stay focused on the ball, hoop or whatever.   Got Lasik about 20 years ago and never looked back.   But it’s harder to do Lasik when you’re 19 because a lot of times your eyes haven’t finished getting worse.  

[yark14]

I don't think the glasses have helped.  Since June 21st he's hitting .114 and has walked once.

[Flash- bd]

Well, he's 6-20 in his last 20 ABs, with a 2B and a 3B. 4 of those hits came in a double header, though, and he's got 0 BB and 2 Ks in that period. 

11-46 with 3 2Bs, a 3B, 12 Ks and 3 BBs since July 6th. At least getting closer to competence...

[RZNJ]

35 minutes ago, Flash- bd said:

Well, he's 6-20 in his last 20 ABs, with a 2B and a 3B. 4 of those hits came in a double header, though, and he's got 0 BB and 2 Ks in that period. 

11-46 with 3 2Bs, a 3B, 12 Ks and 3 BBs since July 6th. At least getting closer to competence...

He's going to start next year as a 19 yo in Delmarva.   You see the progress Deleon has made this year as a 20 yo at Delmarva.  The hope is that Willems dedicates himself to getting better this offseason and puts himself back on the map next year.   Next year is going to be kind of a make or break year for Willems, Deson, and Stiven Acevedo.

[Stotle]

On 4/29/2022 at 2:29 PM, RZNJ said:

I believe Hall played on the Junior Canadian national team and had some experience in international tournaments so I'm not sure he didn't have as much experience as your typical HS draftee (maybe more) unless we are only counting HS kids who played on the showcase circuit which I'm not even sure if Willems did.

He also played on high level travel ball clubs that did tourneys in US.

[86this]

Looks like he's playing his 7th game at first tonight.  With Ardoin there now, maybe let Creed take the stress of catching off his shoulders (and legs) for the rest of the season.

[hutchead]

Got to see Creed in person today for the first time. Cracked an RBI triple in the fourth and then smashed the go ahead homer in the 9th to give Delmarva the win.

[Hallas]

SSS caveat but he's OPSing .905 this month.  Maybe he figured something out?

[Filmstudy]

On 8/17/2022 at 1:19 PM, RZNJ said:

He's going to start next year as a 19 yo in Delmarva.   You see the progress Deleon has made this year as a 20 yo at Delmarva.  The hope is that Willems dedicates himself to getting better this offseason and puts himself back on the map next year.   Next year is going to be kind of a make or break year for Willems, Deson, and Stiven Acevedo.

When talking about the offseason for football players I say that they all work out to stay in shape and what the great ones do is get positional coaching.  In Creed's case, I think he needs to dedicate himself to conditioning, both dropping a bunch of weight and finding a dietary routine he can follow to stay in shape on the road next season.

[LookinUp]

The good news is that prospects aren’t ultimately going to be judged on their first couple of months in pro ball.
 

They picked him for a reason. They paid him for a reason. Now it’s up to him and the player development staff to take the next steps. Hopefully we’re seeing the first signs of that now.

[Jim'sKid26]

6 hours ago, Filmstudy said:

When talking about the offseason for football players I say that they all work out to stay in shape and what the great ones do is get positional coaching.  In Creed's case, I think he needs to dedicate himself to conditioning, both dropping a bunch of weight and finding a dietary routine he can follow to stay in shape on the road next season.

This is a tremendously under appreciated aspect of Minor League player development. These young kids just don't appreciate how important nutrition and conditioning are to overcome the grind of a long season. I think it could be a differentiator between good and great player development franchises.

[yark14]

2 hours ago, Jim'sKid26 said:

This is a tremendously under appreciated aspect of Minor League player development. These young kids just don't appreciate how important nutrition and conditioning are to overcome the grind of a long season. I think it could be a differentiator between good and great player development franchises.

I think that it is way inappropriate to blanket label all "these young kids".  Some kids know the importance of nutrition, conditioning, and skill work; and some kids don't.  The ones that do are the ones that usually rise to the higher levels or even to the majors.  The ones that don't flame out in the lower levels.  Our top prospects like Gunnar, Westburg, Hall, Stowers, et all, clearly know the importance.  Players like Creed need to learn just like generations of ball players before them.