The No. 1 Canadian position player prospect has been called up to the big leagues.
Outfielder Owen Caissie has been called up by the Chicago Cubs, ESPN's Jesse Rogers reported Wednesday.
The Burlington, Ont. native will join the Cubs in Toronto Thursday, setting up a potential big-league debut at home against Max Scherzer, per Sportsnet's Ben Nicholson-Smith.
Caissie is ranked as the Cubs' top prospect, per MLB Pipeline's latest update on Tuesday. He has a .292/.393/.573 slash line with 22 home runs and 52 RBIs with triple-A Iowa this season.
The 23-year-old was the top Canadian selected in the 2020 MLB Draft, taken 45th overall by the San Diego Padres. He was later the centrepiece of the prospect package that was sent to the Cubs for Yu Darvish in the 2020 off-season.
Caissie is ranked 45th overall on MLB Pipeline's major league-wide top prospects list, with right-handed pitcher Jonah Tong being the only Canadian ranked ahead of him.
The left-handed hitter helped high-A South Bend and double-A Tennessee win championships in 2022 and 2023. Caissie slashed .278/.375/.472 with 19 homers as the second-youngest qualified batter in the triple-A International League last season.
According to MLB Pipeline's scouting report Caissie "has had no difficulty producing against much older competition, creating huge raw power with the bat speed and loft in his left-handed swing and the still-growing strength and leverage in his six-foot-three frame" and "could provide 30 or more homers per season, with his pop playing from left-centre to the right-field line and against both lefties and righties."
