Owen Caissie’s words hint at deeper Cubs issues in midst of spiral

With Ian Happ, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Kyle Tucker, and Seiya Suzuki all going through slumps at the same time, it made sense that the Chicago Cubs promoted Owen Caissie when they did. Caissie, the Cubs' top prospect, has been on a tear since the start of July, and conventional wisdom would suggest that his bat could provide a needed spark for the Cubs' offense.

Caissie was in the Cubs' starting lineup on Thursday, went 0-for-4, but managed to drive the ball to left field in three of his plate appearances. When the Cubs returned to Wrigley Field on Friday, Caissie was not in the Cubs' starting lineup.

However, the rookie outfielder may have had a subtle reminder for Craig Counsell while speaking to reporters.

Owen Caissie may have just hinted at Cubs problem no one’s talking about

Counsell told reporters before the game that the Cubs will be taking a day-to-day approach with Caissie's playing time, and honestly, now isn't the time for the Cubs to be cautious with the rollout of their top prospect. Again, it's not as if Caissie is arriving to a roster where the Cubs' outfielders are thriving.

Crow-Armstrong seems to be lost in his head, and as part of that, he is striking out over 35 percent of the time in August. This seems to be a season where Happ won't ride a second-half heater to get his numbers back in line with the back of his baseball card, and Kyle Tucker playing through an injury is the only way to explain the power completely disappearing from his offensive profile over the last two months.

The case can be made for any of those three to take the weekend off, and the Cubs use a weekend series against the Pirates as a soft landing for Caissie's debut in the majors. Especially during a weekend when the Pirates are not throwing Paul Skenes. Instead, the impression is that Caissie will be on the bench more time than he is in the starting lineup during his initial run at the Major League level.

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