Owen Caissie, the No. 1 prospect in the Cubs’ minor league system, will make his debut at Toronto on Thursday, batting fifth as Chicago’s designated hitter against Blue Jays veteran right-hander Max Scherzer.
Primarily an outfielder, Caissie won’t play at Wrigley Field but he does get a virtual home game for his first MLB action. Caissie is from Burlington, Ont., about a 70-minute drive to Rogers Centre in Toronto.
Manager Craig Counsell told reporters he wasn’t sure if Caissie would arrive in time to play, but he arrived earlier than expected.
MLB Pipeline ranks Caissie as the No. 45 overall prospect in baseball.
On the season, he is hitting .289 with 100 hits, 26 doubles, two triples, 22 home runs — including three multi-HR games in one five-game span last month — and 52 RBIs in 93 games.
Caissie, 23, was selected in the second round of the 2020 MLB Draft by the San Diego Padres. He is the highest-ranked Canadian outfielder ever drafted.
With the 2020 minor league season canceled because of the pandemic, Caissie never played in the Padres organization.
He was traded to the Cubs along with three other prospects and right-hander Zach Davies in the seven-player deal that sent right-hander Yu Davish and catcher Victor Caratini to the Padres in December 2020.
He stepped into the roster spot of catcher Miguel Amaya, who was carted off the field with a sprained ankle in Chicago’s 4-1 win over the Blue Jays on Wednesday.
–Field Level Media
