Article: Owen Caissie Continues to 'Be Himself' as he Draws One Step Closer to the Big Leagues

[Theo Tollefson]

Owen Caissie made his name known in Double-A after being thee headliner prospect in the Yu Darvish trade three years before. Now he's adjusting to his first season in Triple-A and breaks down how the season has started for him. 

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints

If there’s one thing the Cubs organization has no shortage of in 2024, it’s outfield depth. From Cody Bellinger, Ian Happ, and Seyia Suzuki on the active roster to Pete Crow Armstrong, Alexander Canarino, and David Peralta in Triple-A. 

There’s one other outfielder at Triple-A making his mark following his best season in professional baseball with the Double-A Tennessee Smokies in 2023; Owen Caissie. His 2023 season was phenomenal as he had a triple slash of .289/.399/.519 with a .918 OPS, 22 home runs, and 84 runs batted in, across 120 games. 

The breakout performance has moved him up to one of the top 5 prospects in the Cubs system by many prospect rankings. Caissie attributes it to finding a balance within himself to take everything one pitch at a time. 

“The biggest takeaway was just finding an inner peace with myself,” Caissie said on the success of his 2023 season at Double-A. “And not letting failure get to me as much. Literally, just telling myself to relax, honestly, I am going to get another pitch to hit, another AB and my career isn’t going to end tomorrow.” 

Caissie’s career is far from over. The 22-year-old Burlington, Ontario native has yet to hit a home run in Triple-A but has hit for a .250 batting average along with a .733 OPS and eight runs batted in. Like many players across professional baseball, he’s adjusting to the new season 

“I’m at the stage in my career where I’ll get more chances and just show who I am. It’s one pitch at a time and not letting a situation get too big for me. It’s just really staying in my approach entirely and not letting me be someone else I am not” Caissie said. 

His new manager Marty Pevey has quickly recognized the capabilities Caissie brings to the Iowa Cubs roster in an outfield that could be up to par against some Major League clubs. 

“He’s got to continue to perform but he has superior bat speed and an A-plus arm from the outfield. The defense in the outfield in both left and right has really improved over the last 12 months. He’s a hard worker and he knows how to play,” said Pevey on the Canadian outfielder.   

One player on the I-Cubs roster that Pevey is happy to have around his young outfielders Caissie, Crow Armstrong, and Canario is Peralta. The 10-year MLB veteran has only been with the Iowa Cubs on the active roster since Thursday but he’s someone Pevey points out for all his young hitters to pay attention to. 

“Watching him go about his daily work is really impressive. Having him here is a boon for us, just watching him get prepared, not just on the field but off. Because the best thing as an outfielder you can do is play the ball off the bat and watching him play even today when he’s not even in the outfield is super impressive and it’s good for these young guys,” said Pevey. 

Fortunately for Caissie, he had his locker in Spring Training close to Peralta, which took little time for the two of them to catch up once he joined the I-Cubs on Thursday for their road trip in St. Paul. But Peralta was not the only veteran Caissie took advantage of listening to in his first Big League camp. 

“Really anyone like Mike Tauchman, Ian Happ, everyone was a great help, Cody Bellinger. If I was just around them I’d honestly listen more than talk just to feel and understand how they do things and how they go about it because they’ve been in the game longer than I have,” said Caissie.

Caissie’s fly-on-the-wall approach around the veterans of the Cubs organization has been a tremendous asset to the start of his 2024 season. But one thing he’s still learning and adjusting to for himself is the pitching at this level. 

“I feel like they’re better at actually pitching, they sequence better. But I am still learning and trying to hone into my zone and just stay middle/middle, and just try to put the bat on the ball because when I do that good things happen.” 

The most noticeable difference between the pitchers at Triple-A compared to Double-A according to Caissie is their focus to get him out by any means necessary. Whereas in Double it seemed every pitcher was trying to get him out via the strikeout. Seeing fewer pitchers constantly trying to strike him out has Caissie keeping himself within his zone more often than not. 

It still may be a while before Caissie gets the call-up to the Majors with the vast number of outfielders on the Cubs depth chart ahead of him. Even so, Caissie knows he is right where he needs to be right now, and as long as he keeps being himself, the opportunity will present itself before 2024 is over. 

“I just need to be me and the best I can be every day, that’s all I can really ask of myself.” 
 

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