He isn’t quite an answer to Juan Soto and Aaron Judge, but Owen Caissie is the closest the Cubs have to a guy who can hit the ball as hard as Giancarlo Stanton. And although the big league Cubs were losing to those Yankees yesterday, Caissie was doing his part to help the Triple-A Iowa Cubs win.
Specifically, Owen Caissie was helping by crushing two homers, including a grand slam, and another no-doubter:
Caisse, who turned 22 earlier this summer, is hitting .275/.375/.478/122 wRC+ in his first go at Triple-A Iowa, with a 13.8% BB, a 28.1% K, and consistently eye-opening exit velos. That’s good production, obviously, but you can see just how high the upside is when you dream on the strikeout rate coming down just a touch, and then him hitting the ball in the air just a little more. He may not reach it, but Caissie has 40-homer potential in his bat, and not too many prospects do. The glove has come a long way in the corner outfield spots, too.
Since he is Rule 5 Draft eligible after this season, Owen Caissie will be added to the Cubs’ 40-man roster by November no matter what. From there, I could envision him getting some chances next season as needs arrive, but it’s possible it’ll still be another mostly developmental year for him (depending in part on what the big league roster looks like). He’s shown he can handle Triple-A well enough with his present skill set, but what you would like to see is him putting it in another gear. He’s still young enough that more could be – should be – coming.
