When the Chicago Cubs arrived at the Rogers Centre for Thursday’s game against the Blue Jays, Owen Caissie was still in the air.
The 23-year-old from Burlington was making his way home from Des Moines, Iowa, where his 0-for-4 for the Iowa Cubs on Wednesday had dropped his OPS to .955, fifth in the International League.
Wednesday night, Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya badly sprained his left ankle beating out an infield single in the eighth inning against the Jays and Caissie, the northsiders’ top prospect, got a phone call from Iowa skipper Marty Pevey — who spent over a decade coaching in the Jays system — to pack his stuff and head to ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ for his major-league debut.
“He’s in the country,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell told the media about two hours before first pitch. “He’s got a ways to go to get here, between customs and just getting here. It’s not the easiest.”
Counsell added something no ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½nian needed to hear: “It’s a little bit of a trip from the airport.” And reporters who were saying Caissie grew up “40 minutes from ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½” must have been looking at maps set for 3 a.m. traffic.
The kid made it, though, and was in the lineup: batting fifth and serving as the designated hitter.
“It was surreal,” the six-foot-three Caissie said after the game. “Growing up watching the Blue Jays, I’m just super thankful that the Cubs could make my debut happen. Not only my debut, but in front of the Canadian people that I cherish so much.”
The first Canadian-born player to make his major-league debut in his home country since Mississauga’s Josh Naylor for the San Diego Padres on May 24, 2019 — and the 13th all-time — got to face future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer and did not wait around in his first at-bat.
Scherzer delivered a first-pitch fastball up and away and the red-haired newbie put a good swing on it, 330 feet to left field. But Davis Schneider made an incredible diving catch in the gap to steal what would have been a double.
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“Schneider made a great play. Great player,” said Caissie. “It’s a welcome to the league moment, I guess.”
For his part, Schneider felt no remorse about stealing Caissie’s first big-league knock.
“I’m sure he’s going to have one eventually,” said the left-fielder, who also scored on Vladimir Guerrero Jr.‘s two-run homer in the Jays’ 2-1 win. “But whether it’s the first big-league hit or just any hit, I feel like helping out Max and our pitchers in any way possible is always cool.”
Scherzer was not surprised that Caissie took a rip at the first pitch he ever saw in the big leagues.
“I was just ready for him to swing,” said the 18-year veteran. “When it’s your debut, you’re going out there, you have all the emotions in the world and I thought he was going to be very aggressive.”
He was, but Schneider was up to the task.
“Davis made a great play,” smiled Scherzer. “Heck of a play.”
Next time up, Scherzer got Caissie to hit a much more routine fly ball. It, too, wound up in Schneider’s glove. His next at-bat went the same way.
“It was funny,” Caissie said about finding out who the Jays starting pitcher would be. “I FaceTimed my mom (and said): Guess who I’m facing tomorrow? And I (said): Max Scherzer.”
She made a face. Turns out she was right, but also right in Owen’s corner, as his parents have always been.
“It means everything,” Caissie said of having his parents in the afternoon crowd of 43,270 at the Rogers Centre. “They supported me a lot ... they just sacrificed pretty much everything for me. They did so much, they loved me so much.”
Caissie, who homered for Team Canada as a 20-year-old at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, led off the ninth inning with a chance to tie the game against Jays closer Jeff Hoffman, but struck out on three pitches.
He’s in good company. Naylor went 0-for-4 in his big-league debut in ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½, too. Things have turned out pretty well for him.
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