Why Promote Owen Caissie Just to Bench Him?
The Cubs have experienced an offensive outage over the last month or so, and their tumble in the standings means they are now more than likely looking at a Wild Card berth as their sole path to the postseason. It would take a lot more things going wrong to mess that up, but the sad part is that the division shouldn’t be wrapped up in the middle of August.
After the Cubs defeated the Brewers on June 17, they held a 6.5-game lead in the NL Central. They now sit in second place, a daunting nine games behind Milwaukee. While Craig Counsell‘s starting rotation has been exceptional, the bats have gone silent. A team that ranked second in runs per game before the All-Star break (5.33) now ranks 29th in the second half (3.8) and dead last in August (2.85).
Superstars Kyle Tucker and Pete Crow-Armstrong have gone into prolonged slumps, while Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki‘s production has quieted down as well. Calling up Owen Caissie made sense at the time, as the lineup needed a spark. He had a .955 OPS and a career-high 22 home runs in 93 games with the Iowa Cubs, making him a perfect candidate to gain a little experience while giving breaks to those scuffling regulars.
Caissie debuted in Toronto on Wednesday, going hitless in his four at-bats despite quality contact, but hasn’t played in a game since. Those two games with him on the bench are too small a sample size from which to draw firm conclusions, but his absence from the lineup is still concerning. Rotating off days for everyday hitters to get Caissie playing time seemed to be the idea, as the Cubs needed a spark and to see how their top prospect handles big league pitching.
More like where. https://t.co/w99ajEf43a
— Evan Altman (@DEvanAltman) August 16, 2025
It would be one thing if the Cubs were still hitting well and scoring at will, in which case a promotion would be a way to reward Caissie with a taste of the MLB life. Alas, his absence from the lineup against Pittsburgh has frustrated many fans, especially those who have been waiting to see him in a Cubs uniform since he was acquired for Yu Darvish in 2020. Then there’s the simple matter of icing a hot hitter like he’s a kicker prepping for a big field goal.
If Counsell and the Cubs still want to give Happ and Tucker as many games as they can to break out of their funks, which is possible, it would be wise to send Caissie back to Des Moines. At least then he could keep getting everyday at-bats to stay active and ready in case another injury opens an opportunity for playing time in Chicago.
