Cubs name OF Owen Caissie, RHP Luis Devers as Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Month

The Chicago Cubs announced that South Bend Cubs outfielder Owen Caissie and Myrtle Beach Pelicans right-handed pitcher Luis Devers were named as the Cubs’ Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Month of May respectively.

Caissie, who is the Cubs ninth-rated prospect in the most-recent Baseball America rankings, got off to a slow start to the 2022 season in April, but he turned things around in a big way last month. The 19-year-old Canadian outfielder hit .313 (26-for-83) with six doubles, four homers, 26 RBI, seven walks and a .910 OPS in 23 games for South Bend in May. His 26 runs batted in led all Cubs minor leaguers for the month of May. The left-handed hitting Caissie had his first career multi-homer game on May 20 when he hit two at Wisconsin.

I’ve been calling Luis Devers the best Cubs minor league pitching prospect that you’ve never heard of, and I’m probably going to have to stop doing that after he won Pitcher of the Month for May. The 22-year-old Dominican right-hander made five starts for Myrtle Beach in May and went 4-1 with a 1.48 ERA over 24.1 innings. Devers held opposing hitters to a .176 batting average (15-for-85 in May. He pitched five innings and allowed no runs in each of the final three appearances of the month.

In addition to those two awards, South Bend left-hander DJ Herz was named the Midwest League Pitcher of the Week. Herz started against Dayton on June 1 and got the win after he allowed just one hit and no runs over five innings. He struck out a career-high 12 batters in that game and walked no one. (He did hit one batter. It was on the foot with a slider.)

For the season, Herz is 1-0 with a 1.45 ERA. He has 53 strikeouts and 17 walks in 37.1 innings. Herz has been holding opposing hitters to a .120 batting average.