Outfielder Owen Caissie, the No. 1 prospect in the Cubs’ minor league system, is expected to join Chicago Thursday in Toronto.
The Cubs were set to officially call up Caissie from Triple-A Iowa before the game in Toronto, but manager Craig Counsell told reporters he wasn’t sure if Caissie would arrive in time to play.
“I’d love to have him be in the lineup, but we’re just gonna wait and see what his scheduled arrival time is,” Counsell told reporters a bit more than two hours prior to game time.
If Caissie doesn’t arrive to Toronto in time to play, his first MLB chance would have to wait until Friday, when the Cubs open a three-game home series with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
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 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.
If Caissie arrives in time for the game, he’ll be playing in front of the home folks. He is from Burlington, Ont., about a 70-minute drive to Rogers Centre in Toronto.
He is expected to take 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.
Cubs calling up top prospect OF Owen Caissie
