The Chicago Cubs lost their series finale against the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday, but the night was filled with great performances down in the minor leagues. Owen Caissie was the star prospect on Wednesday, hitting three home runs, while a pair of right-handed pitchers made their season debuts and were nasty for their respective teams.
Owen Caissie 3 HR Game
The Yu Darvish trade really wasn’t looking all that good for the Cubs after 2021 and even after the first month or two in 2022, but left-handed hitting outfielder Owen Caissie has certainly changed that perception since the middle of last year. The 20-year-old finished strong after a slow start last season and now at Double-A he’s facing a new challenge against better talent.
On Wednesday night, Caissie blasted three home runs, including a grand slam and a 458-foot bomb later on. You can see all three home runs in the video below.
That definitely helped out Caissie’s early season slash line.
Last year at South Bend in A-Ball, Caissie posted a .751 OPS in 105 games.
Meanwhile, top Cubs prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong went 2-for-4 and scored a run in Tennessee’s 8-5 win. PCA is now hitting .350 through the Smokies first five games, going 7-for-20, with a triple. The center fielder has three multi-hit games in the first week of play.
Infield prospect Chase Strumpf also hit a home run for the Smokies Wednesday night.
Cade Horton Dominates in Pro Debut
Right-handed pitcher Cade Horton was the Cubs first round pick in 2022, drafted with the seventh overall pick out of Oklahoma and although he didn’t pitch in the minors last year Horton recently jumped into MLB Pipeline’s top-100 prospects list. His pro debut was supposed to be this past Saturday, but that game was postponed. Well, the wait was finally over and Horton quickly showed off his nasty slider.
Horton struck out five batters in 2.1 innings, allowing two soft hits in his pro debut with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans at A-Ball.
The 21-year-old should move up quickly through the Cubs farm system this season because Horton’s slider alone is unfair for most hitters in the lower levels of the minors.
Myrtle Beach won 6-4. Right-handed hitter Felix Stevens homered for the Pelicans.
Kohl Franklin Nearly Un-hittable in 2023 Debut
Kohl Franklin has been on and off the radar the past fews years because of an oblique injury that sidelined him for all of 2021 and then his results weren’t pretty in 2022. However, the right-handed starting pitcher reminded fans that he still does have the potential to be in the major leagues.
Franklin started for the South Bend Cubs on Wednesday night and he only allowed one hit in four shutout innings, striking out seven batters and walking two. The 2018 draft pick hit 100mph with his fastball, as he dominated in his season debut.
The South Bend Cubs shutout Beloit 8-0.
Definitely check out Bryan Smith’s breakdown of both Cade Horton and Kohl Franklin. Great stuff.
gOOD
ll it takes is a ground ball or a fly ball and a runner scores. But unfortunately, the Sox were unable to get either runner in and they left the inning only scoring two.