CHICAGO – Cubs rookie outfielder Owen Caissie pulled off a difficult catch on Saturday afternoon, but it came at a cost.
In the wake of Chicago's 5-4 loss to the Rays, Cubs manager Craig Counsell said that Caissie had entered Major League Baseball’s concussion protocol after hitting his head on the ivy-covered brick wall at Wrigley Field. The team will continue to monitor Caissie’s progress in the coming days.
“Owen has concussion symptoms,” Counsell said. “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.”
The 23-year-old Caissie – MLB Pipeline’s top Cubs prospect and No. 44 on the Top 100 list – was promoted from Triple-A Iowa prior to Saturday’s game. He has appeared in a dozen games this season for the Cubs while hitting .286/.386/.551 with 22 homers, 28 doubles and 55 RBIs in 99 games with Iowa this season.
The play in question arrived in the third inning, when Rays shortstop Carson Williams sent a pitch from Colin Rea deep into the right-center-field gap. Caissie, who was manning right field, hustled to his right as center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong was also in pursuit of the ball.
At the last moment, Crow-Armstrong went into a slide to allow Caissie to make the play on the run. The rookie made the catch but lost his footing as he stepped over Crow-Armstrong and stumbled into the wall while falling down. Caissie initially remained in the game, but he was replaced by utility man Willi Castro in the sixth inning.
“That thing’s brick, and it doesn’t give,” said Cubs left fielder Ian Happ, who has three Gold Gloves. “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.”