Chicago Cubs lose another outfielder after ugly tumble into the brick and ivy

The Chicago Cubs got another helping of bad news on Saturday– aside from the frustrating 5-4 loss suffered at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rays at Wrigley Field.

Rookie right fielder and Cubs no. 1 prospect Owen Caissie has been put on the shelf, per MLB concussion protocol.

What put him there was a fluke accident that saw the 23-year-old take a tumble into the brick and ivy outfield wall, apparently hitting the back of his head, while catching a fly ball.

Owen Caissie, out of commission

The play in question happened in the third inning with Colin Rea still on the mound. Rays shortstop Carson Williams hit a deep fly ball into the gap in right-center. Caissie and center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong were both in pursuit of the catch, but Crow-Armstrong slid to make way for the right fielder. Ironically, the slide to prevent a collision resulted in Caissie, who did make the catch, being tripped up and crashing against the wall.

The young outfielder would stay in the game, going 0-2 at the plate, before being removed in favor of Willi Castro in the sixth inning. Shortly thereafter, the Cubs announced their decision to put Caissie on pause.

“Owen has concussion symptoms,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell told reporters. “We’ll just evaluate him moving forward. He just kind of got gradually worse after running into the wall. About 45 minutes later, he couldn’t continue.”

“That thing’s brick, and it doesn’t give,” Cubs left fielder Ian Happ told the media after the game. “Owen did a great job of catching that ball and tracking it. He just got tripped up a little bit. Hopefully he’s all right, but that’s a tough one going headfirst into that thing.”

The prospect had just been recalled from Triple-A Iowa prior to Saturday’s game.

Chicago Cubs’ backup to the backup

Outfielder Kevin Alcantara, who had been sent down to the minors when Caissie was brought up, will come right back to Chicago to fill the now-open roster slot. He’ll be needed, as the Cubs are currently in a bind when it comes to outfielders with Kyle Tucker on the IL and Seiya Suzuki having missed some time due to undisclosed illness. Alcantara will likely share time in right field with Willi Castro until Caissie, Tucker, or Suzuki come back at full speed.

This brief cameo was Caissie’s second major league run this season, after being the subject of trade rumors during the offseason and in the lead-up to the July 31 trade deadline. Remaining on the Cubs’ roster appears to be a result of Chicago’s uncertainty of re-signing free agency-bound Kyle Tucker and of Caissie’s own potential as a heavy-hitting corner outfielder.

In 26 big league at-bats this season, the Canadian prospect is hitting .192 with 1 home run and 4 RBIs, logging an OPS of .568. For the Iowa Cubs, he’s had a breakthrough season with 22 home runs and 55 RBIs with a .286 batting average and a .937 OPS.

The thought in initially swapping Alcantara for Caissie was that, with Tucker out for at least a week and maybe longer, the Cubs would need Caissie’s power more than Alcantara’s speed. Now, however, that is a moot point.

MLB concussion protocol

MLB concussion protocol allows for a shorter 7-day IL stint as the injured player passes a series of steps to ensure full recovery from symptoms of concussion. A failure to pass each designated step in recovery pushes the player back to the initial step. With just 14 games to go in the season, a step backwards for Caissie at any point in the process will likely cost him the rest of the season.

Source: https://www.chicitysports.com/chicago-cubs-owen-caissie-injury?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=chicago-cubs-owen-caissie-injury