Owen Caissie, the No. 1 prospect in the Chicago Cubs’ minor league system, went 0-for-4 in his major league debut at Toronto on Thursday.
Batting fifth as Chicago’s designated hitter, Caissie lined out twice and flied out against Blue Jays veteran right-hander Max Scherzer. In the ninth inning, he struck out against Jeff Hoffman, who got the save in Toronto’s 2-1 win.
Caissie, primarily an outfielder, was promoted from Triple-A Iowa pregame when the Cubs placed catcher Miguel Amaya on the injured list due to a sprained left ankle.
Caissie got something of a home game for his first big-league action. The 23-year-old left-handed hitter is from Burlington, Ontario, about a 70-minute drive to Rogers Centre in Toronto.
MLB Pipeline ranked Caissie as the No. 45 overall prospect in baseball.
On the season, he was 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 for Iowa.
Caissie was selected in the second round of the 2020 draft by the San Diego Padres.
With the 2020 minor league season canceled because of the pandemic, Caissie never played in the San Diego 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.
Amaya was carted off the field with after getting tripping at first base on an infield hit in Chicago’s 4-1 win over the Blue Jays on Wednesday. He was in his first game back after missing 2 1/2 months due to a strained left oblique.
–Field Level Media
