Bleak injury update on Cubs top prospect could slow his ascent to MLB

Thursday was an eventful day for Chicago Cubs outfield prospects. Alexander Canario, a key part of the Kris Bryant trade with the San Francisco Giants in 2021, was designated for assignment to make room for new addition Justin Turner - and we got a disappointing injury update on Owen Caissie.

The young outfielder is currently shelved with a groin injury that's keeping him out of all baseball activities - all but guaranteeing he'll start the year in the minors (although that was a virtual certainty regardless given the crowded outfield mix in Chicago).

Caissie, who enters the year as MLB Pipeline's #54 prospect, is knocking on the door of the big leagues and is expected to open the year with Triple-A Iowa. He torched Triple-A pitching last year at just 21 years old, putting up a .278/.375/.473 slash line that came on the heels of a .918 OPS at Double-A the year prior.

This will be a story to keep an eye on as Cactus League action gets underway and the Cubs start working toward their season-opening matchup against the Los Angeles Dodgers in mid-March in the Tokyo Series. Like I said, the outfield mix is crowded at present, but injuries happen and this felt like the year Chicago might start turning to its top-heavy farm system to fill any voids left by lengthy IL stints.

Caissie, along with Matt Shaw, James Triantos, Moises Ballesteros and Kevin Alcantara, could all see action with the Cubs in 2025. We got our first glimpse at Alcantara late last summer, but are yet to see the MLB debuts of the other three. Shaw has the inside track on the starting third base job and Triantos and Ballesteros will likely be waiting in the wings at Iowa.

Speaking of Shaw, he's progressed to hitting in the cage as he continues to work his way back from an oblique issue - so we could potentially see him in Cactus League action before the month is up. Hopefully Caissie can start getting back into the swing of things soon, but you can bet the Cubs are focused on one thing: making sure he's fully healthy before flipping the switch.