The Chicago Cubs are preparing to call up top prospect Owen Caissie after Miguel Amaya was injured in Wednesday’s game, a new report says.
According to Jesse Rogers of ESPN, the Cubs will call up Caissie prior to their series finale against the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday afternoon.
Caissie is ranked as a top-50 prospect in all of baseball by MLB Pipeline, and is the Cubs’ top prospect according to the publication.
Originally drafted by the Padres, Caissie was traded to the Cubs as part of the Dec. 2020 deal that sent Yu Darvish to San Diego, and he is the first prospect from that trade to make his MLB debut with the Cubs.
MLB Pipeline rates him as a plus-player in terms of his power and his arm, and he is expected to either play as a designated hitter or as a corner outfielder at the big-league level.
Caissie has been tearing it up at Triple-A Iowa this season, with 22 home runs and 52 RBI’s in 92 games played. He is slashing an impressive .292/.393/.573, and has racked up a total of 50 extra base hits while walking 53 times in 400 plate appearances.
He has been especially hot in the second half of the Triple-A season, with 11 home runs in his last 112 at-bats for Iowa. He has 2 RBI’s and has batted .339 in those games, and has been one of the hottest hitters at the Triple-A level.
Born in Canada, Caissie could make his debut in his home country after the scary injury that sidelined Amaya in Wednesday’s contest. Amaya was running to first base during the Cubs’ 4-1 win over the Blue Jays when he hit the bag awkwardly, falling to the turf at Rogers Centre. He was ultimately carted off the field, and has been diagnosed with a sprained ankle, with X-rays coming back negative.
It is expected Amaya will be placed on the injured list, and Caissie will be added to the 26-man roster to replace him.
Caissie will likely be used to spell the Cubs’ corner outfielders in coming games, or enable the Cubs to give players like Pete Crow-Armstrong and Seiya Suzuki days off as they try to work their way through prolonged slumps.
The Cubs are currently scheduled to face Max Scherzer on Thursday, and Caissie has hammered 19 home runs and slashed .311/.401/.634 against right-handed pitching this season in the minors.
First pitch of Thursday’s game is set for 2:07 p.m., with Matthew Boyd taking the hill for the North Siders as they try to win a road series for the first time since they took two-of-three from the White Sox in late July.
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