2023 Cubs prospect profiles: Owen Caissie

This series of Cubs prospect profiles is based on Fangraphs’ top 52 prospects list, minus the players who have already been profiled. Generally, these will be of Triple-A and Double-A players that might see the 40-man roster at some point. I’m not necessarily doing them in order and will skip around a bit.

Owen Andrew Caissie is ascending the ladder one step at a time, but he’s skipping the steps and just going level-to-level. He slashed .289/.399/.519, with 22 home runs and 84 RBI in 439 AB... and also walked 76 times while playing right field, and had a .988 fielding percentage, having committed two errors, but he made up for that with 10 outfield assists.

AND he’s a lefty. We heard all spring and summer about his exploits. It would surprise exactly nobody if he found his locker in Iowa in 2024. He’s not regarded as the best glove man, but he’s not going to hurt you out there too much, and that bat plays anywhere. Kevin Alcantára would likely be moved to fill his spot on the Smokies, and he’s on the fast track, too.

Caissie was drafted by the Padres in 2020 (Round 2, pick 8), 45th overall, and the Cubs obtained him in the Yu Darvish trade. He was at that time the highest-drafted Canadian player ever.

MLB.com says:

Caissie’s signature tool is his well-above-average raw power, which he creates with bat speed and leverage in his left-handed stroke. He produces astounding exit velocities for his age and is doing a better job of pulling and lifting more pitches this summer. He works deep counts but his approach comes with a good deal of strikeouts that will be an acceptable tradeoff for his pop.

The 21-year-old also has first-to-third speed and will probably fill out more as he grows older, packing some muscle on his 6’3” frame. He might yet make that trade look acceptable.

Here’s some more video — there’s more at this page. Easy power. Fangraphs pegs his arrival date as 2025. All of the dominoes depend on how the Cody Bellinger situation shakes out. Could be earlier, but not likely.

His stroke and approach seem to be made for the Friendly Confines. Patrick Mooney is high on him {$}. Smokies hitting coach Rick Strickland said, an an article talking about Caissie and Pete Crow-Armstrong, taken in the same draft:

“You don’t have to go and look for those guys when it’s time to get work in. They’re usually first — both of them — to a meeting. Whatever’s going on, they’re first. If it’s time to hit, they’re first. You’re never going to beat Pete and Owen into the cages early.”

Baseball rats, gym rats.

“He hits the ball so damn hard you don’t realize what the strikeout rate is,” Strickland said. “I’m not worried about his strikeout rate.”

“They both want to be great,” Jared Banner said of Caissie and Crow-Armstrong. “They want to win a World Series at Wrigley.”

I want them to, too. And I want Caissie to fight for playing time with Brennen Davis in Iowa. The competition should make them both better. I want Davis to fight for MLB time in the spring. He’ll be our next subject.