Try again, rookie: Schneider's wild catch robs Caissie of 1st MLB hit

TORONTO -- Davis Schneider welcomed Owen Caissie to the big leagues by putting the Canadian kid on the wrong end of a highlight reel.

Making his MLB debut at Rogers Centre in Thursday's series finale between the Blue Jays and Cubs, just up the road from his hometown of Burlington, Ontario, Caissie launched what looked like an extra-base hit in his first at-bat of the game. Schneider was racing back into the left-center-field gap, though, and at the last moment, launched into the air to make the spectacular diving catch.

“He’s gotten so much better in the outfield. He’s worked his ass off,” manager John Schneider said after the Blue Jays’ 2-1 win, “to go back and to his left. It was awesome. That’s a highlight-reel catch and that’s a momentum-changer.”

It looked more like an NFL wide receiver racing back behind his head for a one-handed grab. Even on a team with Daulton Varsho and Andrés Giménez, Schneider might have just locked up the Blue Jays’ defensive play of the year.

Max Scherzer was on the mound, and there may be no pitcher in Major League Baseball who cares more about the positioning of his fielders, especially the outfielders. He’s involved in meetings, drilling right down to the finest details and hitters’ tendencies to have his fielders in the perfect spots at the perfect moment. But what Schneider did was more than just good positioning.

“What a catch. Obviously one of the better ones on the year,” Scherzer said. “When you get a play like that, it keeps you in rhythm and then it allows you to keep attacking the zone, keep throwing it up. That was a special play.”

There will be plenty more to come for Caissie, ranked by MLB Pipeline as Chicago's top prospect and the No. 45 prospect in baseball, who finished the day going 0-for-4 with a strikeout. But what a moment this would have been, getting his first career MLB hit in his first career at-bat off the great Scherzer, a likely future Hall of Famer.

“Just hit the ball and run,” Caissie said. “Schneider made a great play, so it was a 'welcome to the league' moment.”

Schneider isn’t one to celebrate his own big moments, but his teammates on the field were either jumping into the air or standing, stunned, with both hands on their heads. All Caissie could do was slow his run and turn back from second base towards the Cubs dugout, and he’ll have to wait another day to be on the right side of his first MLB highlight.