Owen Caissie celebrated his 21st birthday a few days before the All-Star break and ever since baseball resumed on July 14, the left-handed hitting outfielder has been pounding the shit out of the ball.
Whenever I write about prospects and specifically prospect rankings, I make sure to point out that the people who put out these lists spend WAY MORE time actually evaluating these young players in the minor leagues. For the most part, I'll tune into games, see some guys crush baseballs and think, hey, this dude seems to be pretty good. That's good analysis right there. And yes, I am being biased here, but I just cannot understand how Owen Caissie is still being disrespected among the major prospect ranking lists.
I mean, look at these numbers! Especially that last one.
There were big concerns in the first half of the season and they were fair, as Caissie's strikeout rate was well above 30%. However, did everyone kind of ignore that Caissie kept improving on his biggest flaw at the plate as the season progressed? Also, there is no way you can't bring up the fact that this is Caissie's age-20 season and at Double-A he's playing against guys 2-3 years older than he is on average.
Owen Caissie Month-by-Month Stats
April: .306/.405/.613, 43.2 K%, 13.5 BB%
May: .273/.337/.534, 33.7 K%, 9.2 BB%
June: .226/.347/.369, 31.7 K%, 13.9 BB%
July: .325/.469/.623, 25.5 K%, 18.4 BB%
August: .458/.533/1.000, 16.7 K%, 16.7 BB%
The strikeout rate has gone down every month and I started the article by pointing out how Caissie has been on fire since July 14, because that's when the Southern League stopped using a pre-tacked, "enhanced grip" baseball that MLB was testing out in the minors. That ball was helping out pitchers a lot, which led to strikeout rates sky-rocketing at Double-A.
Well, ever since that pre-tacked baseball was taken out, Caissie is showing why he should be regarded as one of the best prospects in baseball.
Owen Caissie Last 20 Games
.356/.473/.712
202 wRC+, 1.185 OPS
24.2 K%, 17.7 BB%
6 HR, 22 RBI, 20 R, 6 2B, 1 3B, 16 BB
So, Caissie has obviously taken his game to the next level in the past 1-2 months, but it's not like he hasn't been good all year. His overall numbers have remained great, slashing .293/.399/.561, a 150 wRC+ with 21 home runs.
Caissie's 150 wRC+ ranks third-best in the Southern League. The two players ahead of him are both 25-years-old.
Owen Caissie, top-100 prospect. Respect him, please.
