OF Owen Caissie, 2nd round (45th overall) -- Signed $1,200,004 -- San Diego Padres

OF Owen Caissie

Hometown: Burlington, Ont.

Bats/Throws: Left/Right

Height/Weight: 6’ 4” 207 bs.

Scouts: Chris Kemlo and Murray Zuk.

Slot Money: $1,650,200

Team: FieldHouse Pirates/Canadian Junior National Team

Committed to: Michigan (this fall)

Coach: Lee Delfino, former Blue Jays farmhand, drafted in the sixth round in 2001 from East Carolina University.

Originally Committed: To University of Kentucky Nov. 29 2018 for the Fall of 2021. Kentucky made a coaching change and Caissie made a campus change.

Previous Teams: Brewers Langley Blaze, Burlington Bulls.

Previous Coaches: George Halim, Phil Duffy, Doug Mathieson, Jamie Bodaly.

Recruited by: Assistant head coach Nick Schnabel for Michigan coach Erik Bakich.

Good genes: Father Jason Caissie played hockey and baseball growing up.

Twitter handle: @owen_caissie

The most influential person in my baseball life: “Coach George Halim. He has pushed me, but I can tell him to give me space sometimes. It’s more like a brother relationship but at the same time he has reality checks for me.”

Ranked on other lists: 198th on Baseball America’s top 200 list (May 23) … 96th on Baseball America’s top prospect list May 8) ... 76th on MLB Pipeline combined list (April 22) ... 236th on Perfect Game top 500 high schoolers, 40th best outfielder, third best prospect in Canada, second best outfielder (April 7) ... 227th on Baseball America combined list of high schoolers and collegians (April 3) ... 217th on Baseball America’s top 400 combined list (March 25) ... 95th on Perfect Game’s combined top 400 list (March 24)

Scouting Report:

Perfect Game (May 1, 2020)

A huge riser in this spring, Cassie is Michigan signee that is young for the class and has big upside. He’s a well-built 6-foot-3 lefthanded hitter with a very quick bat and possesses the ability to hit for both average and power. Cassie runs well and will solidify an outfield that can rival any other team in the best-of-seven series. The young Canadian has the potential to set the table or be the guy that is relied on to knock in runs and simply put is a “bad man” when he has a bat in his hands and standing in the lefthanded batters-box.

Baseball America (Feb. 4 2020)

A handful of Canadian prospects are drafted and signed every year, though at the moment only outfielder David Calabrese ranks among the top 200 prospects in North America. The most exciting prospect after Calabrese is Caissie, who has big raw power, a handsy lefthanded swing, solid straight-line running ability and a chance to stick in centre. As a member of Canada’s Junior National team, Caissie will get a chance to face pro pitching this spring in Florida and if he performs well could jump significantly. He’s got a large, 6-foot-4, 190-pound frame to dream on and the tools are there, but scouts will need to have more conviction in how usable those tools are. Caissie will also turn 18 a month after the draft, making him one of the younger players in the class. He also recently posted the highest exit velocity (105 mph) at Prep Baseball Report’s Super 60 showcase.

MLB Pipeline _ This outfielder has honed his skills with the Fieldhouse Pirates and Junior National Team in recent months. If scouts didn’t already know about his left-handed power stroke, they certainly did after his breakout performance at Tournament 12 last September. He was the winner of the home run contest at the event. Caissie also belted a home run to dead centre for the Junior National Team at TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Fla., this spring in their exhibition game against the Toronto Blue Jays. MLB Pipeline’s evaluation, Caissie “has the tools to fit the right field profile very well, starting with his plus raw power. He has legit pop from the left side of the plate, with the ability to drive the ball to all fields.” MLB Pipeline also likes his outfield arm. “Caissie has played a corner outfield spot for the Canadian Junior National team. With an arm that delivers low-90s throws from the outfield and his power potential, he fits that mold very well,” reads the MLB Pipeline evaluation.

What they are saying

NL scout

“His swing reminds me Fred McGriff.”

After his homer into the batter’s eye at TD Bank in Dunedin he returns to the third base dugout — take a look: he hits, he even picks up the bats.

2020 season: Homered off RHP Connor Overton of the Toronto Blue Jays into the batter’s eye at TD Bank in Dunedin on a 95 MPH pitch. Not an easy feat for a high schooler taking a 2014 draftee deep. Overton was drafted from Old Dominion by the Marlins and pitched at class-A Batavia, class-A Auburn, class-A Greensboro, triple-A Syracuse, class-A San Jose, double-A Sioux City, triple-A Sacramento, double-A Richmond and class-A San Jose In the Nationals. Giants and Marlins organizations (pitching 259 2/3 innings in 145 games). Caisse hit .167 on spring trip to St. Pete’s against pro players ... Was 3-for-20 with two walks and a solo homer in five games before the trip was cut short by the virus …. Impressed at workout at FieldHouse in Burlington.

2019 season: At Tournament 12, hit .400 (4-for-10) with two doubles, a solo homer and an OPS of 1.400 … Won home run derby at Rogers Centre at Tournament 12 with 11 homers in the final round, five more than Tyler Hinrikus (Kitchener, Ont.) ... Went upper deck twice during T12 batting practice ... Batted .375 at Summer Games with two doubles, two triples and three RBIs. Had a 1.208 OPS in nine games.

Honours:

2020 _: Earned Canada/PuertoRico Region All High School Senior First Team honours

Has worked part time at: Baseball 365, a shirt company, owned by former Blue Jays farmhand Lee Delfino.