Caissie named to MLB All-Star Futures Game roster

Fieldhouse Pirates and Junior National Team alum Owen Caissie (Burlington, Ont.) has been selected to play in the MLB All-Star Futures Game after a strong start to the season with the Chicago Cubs’ triple-A Iowa Cubs.

July 2, 2024

Official Major League Baseball News Release

Rosters for the 2024 All-Star Futures Game, as well as selections to participate in the all-new MLB Futures Skills Showcase, were announced on Tuesday on MLB Network.

The 25th edition of the Futures Game will be played at 4:00 p.m. (E.T.)/3:00 p.m. (CT) on Saturday, July 13 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, and will be immediately followed by the hitting challenge prior to the start of the All-Star Celebrity Softball Game presented by Corona, which caps off a full day of All-Star Saturday events at the ballpark.

The Futures Game will air exclusively live on MLB Network and simulcast on MLB.tv, MLB.com and in the MLB App with Melanie Newman (play-by-play), Mark DeRosa (analyst), Jonathan Mayo (analyst) and Sande Charles (reporter) on the call.

Major League Baseball, in conjunction with MLB Pipeline, Baseball America and the 30 Major League Clubs, selected the 27 players named to each team (25 active players and two inactive players designated for injury/call-up replacements). Each Major League organization is represented and players from all player development leagues were eligible to be selected. Complete Futures Game rosters, prospect analysis and rankings can be found at MLB.com/pipeline.

Each of the last two number two overall picks in the MLB Draft – Washington’s Dylan Crews (2023) and Arizona’s Druw Jones (2022) – are part of the NL Futures roster. Crews, who is MLB Pipeline’s number four overall prospect, and Jones, who is ranked third by MLB Pipeline in the Diamondbacks’ organization, are joined by 10 fellow first round draft picks on the NL roster, including Pittsburgh’s Termarr Johnson (4th overall, 2022); Cincinnati’s Rhett Lowder (7th overall, 2023); Colorado’s Chase Dollander (9th overall, 2023); Miami’s Noble Meyer (10th overall, 2023); Washington’s Brady House (11th overall, 2021); Chicago’s Matt Shaw (13th overall, 2023); San Francisco’s Bryce Eldridge (16th overall, 2023); Philadelphia’s Justin Crawford (17th overall, 2022); Cincinnati’s Cam Collier (18th overall; 2022); and Philadelphia’s Aidan Miller (27th overall, 2023).

On the AL side, 2023 number three overall selection Max Clark, who is MLB Pipeline’s top-ranked Detroit Tigers hitting prospect and the number 10 overall prospect in the Majors, highlights the roster alongside 11 other first round draft selections, including Boston’s Marcelo Mayer (4th overall, 2021); Minnesota’s Brooks Lee (8th overall, 2022); Kansas City’s Gavin Cross (9th overall, 2022); Seattle’s Harry Ford (12th overall, 2021); Boston’s Kyle Teel (14th overall, 2023); Seattle’s Cole Young (21st overall, 2022); Chicago’s Colson Montgomery (22nd overall, 2021); Cleveland’s Ralphy Velazquez (23rd overall, 2023); New York’s Spencer Jones (25th overall, 2022); Chicago’s Noah Schultz (26th overall, 2022); and Tampa Bay’s Xavier Isaac (29th overall, 2022).

Other highlights of the Futures Game rosters include:

-Among the 54 players named to the Futures Game, 48 participated in the inaugural Spring Breakout this past March.

-Ten of MLB Pipeline’s top 18 overall prospects were selected to Futures Game rosters.

-The teams feature a combined 24 former first round picks (12 on each team), including 10 players chosen in the opening round of the 2023 Draft; two Competitive Balance Round A selections; seven second round picks; four third round picks; one fourth round selection; one sixth round pick; one seventh round pick; and one 11th round selection.

-The two squads combine for 13 internationally-born players representing seven different countries and territories outside the 50 United States. The Dominican Republic is represented by six players, followed by two players from Venezuela, and one each from the Bahamas, Canada, Cuba, Nicaragua and Taiwan.

-Representing Canada will be Fieldhouse Pirates and Junior National Team alum Owen Caissie (Burlington, Ont.). The 21-year-old outfielder is batting .283 with eight home runs and 45 RBIs in 73 games for the triple-A Iowa Cubs this season. He also owns a .392 on-base percentage and an .842 OPS.

His strong performance comes on the heels of a breakout campaign last season. After starting 2023 with a home run and four RBIs in three games for Canada at the World Baseball Classic in March, Caissie batted .289 with 22 home runs and 84 RBIs and a .918 OPS in 120 games with the double-A Tennessee Smokies.

For his efforts, he was named the Cubs’ Minor League Player of the Year by Baseball America, Cubs’ Hitting Prospect of the Year by MLB Pipeline and was the recipient of Baseball Canada’s Canadian Futures Award, presented by the Toronto chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA).

Chosen by the San Diego Padres in the second round of the 2020 MLB draft, Caissie never played a game in the Padres’ organization before he was dealt to the Cubs as part of the package for right-hander Yu Darvish in December 2020. He is now in his fourth season in the Cubs’ organization.

-Eight players who have participated in Development Programs led by MLB and USA Baseball are featured on the Futures rosters, including Cam Collier (Breakthrough Series, DREAM Series, Hank Aaron Invitational); Justin Crawford (Breakthrough Series, DREAM Series, Hank Aaron Invitational); Harry Ford (DREAM Series); Tink Hence (Breakthrough Series, DREAM Series); Termarr Johnson (Breakthrough Series, DREAM Series, Hank Aaron Invitational); Druw Jones (DREAM Series); Tre’ Morgan (Breakthrough Series, DREAM Series, Hank Aaron Invitational); and Chandler Simpson (Breakthrough Series).

Following the conclusion of the Futures Game will be the brand-new MLB Futures Skills Showcase, which is inspired by fan-favorite baseball video games past and present. The competition, which features three rounds of hitting challenges, joins Spring Breakout as the latest new initiative to highlight baseball’s future stars on a national platform on their road to the Major Leagues. The eight players selected to compete in the event include: Pittsburgh’s Termarr Johnson; Cincinnati’s Cam Collier; Washington’s Brady House; and Moises Ballesteros of the Chicago Cubs on the NL side, and Minnesota’s Brooks Lee; Boston’s Roman Anthony; Tampa Bay’s Tre’ Morgan; and Sebastian Walcott of the host Texas Rangers on the AL side. Four of the competitors – Ballesteros, House, Anthony and Morgan – have been designated as inactive for the Futures Game, but could become eligible to play in the contest if replacements are necessary due to injuries or Major League promotions.

The Minor League Baseball Umpires who will work the All-Star Futures Game are Triple-A Umpire Felix Neon; Double-A Umpire Matt Blackborow of the Eastern League; Triple-A Umpire Casey James; and Double-A Umpire Sean Sparling of the Texas League. All four umpires will be on the field for the T-Mobile Home Run Derby on Monday, July 15th. In addition, two of the four umpires will be assigned to the Futures Skills Showcase, while the other two will work the All-Star Celebrity Softball Game presented by Corona.

The 2024 All-Star Futures Game, which is scheduled for seven innings, features the top Minor League prospects competing as part of All-Star Saturday. The Futures Game will once again feature a National League vs. American League format, which was introduced in 2019 following 20 years of U.S. vs. World matchups. Last year in Seattle, the NL earned a 5-0 victory, led by Nasim Nuñez, who drove in three runs and was presented with the Larry Doby Award as the game’s most valuable player. With the victory, the NL now holds a 2-1-1 advantage under the AL vs. NL format. Among all previous Futures Game participants, 87.9% have gone on to play at least one Major League game, while 232 total players thus far (20.7%) have been selected to play in at least one Major League All-Star Game.

A pair of former Texas Rangers legends will be featured as managers with 2024 Hall of Fame electee and four-time All-Star Adrian Beltré leading the AL Futures team, while seven-time All-Star and 2005 AL Batting Champion Michael Young manages the NL Futures team. Among those serving as coaches at the Futures Game are former Major League All-Stars and Rangers legends Prince Fielder, Ian Kinsler, Nelson Cruz, Mark Teixeira, Elvis Andrus, Gary Matthews Jr., Francisco Cordero and Mitch Moreland. The full coaching staffs for the AL and NL Futures Teams can be seen on the rosters below.

Single day tickets for All-Star Saturday on July 13th are now available at allstargame.com. Tickets for All-Star Saturday include access to all three events taking place at Globe Life Field, including the All-Star Futures Game, MLB Futures Skills Showcase and the All-Star Celebrity Softball Game presented by Corona. Tickets are also available now at allstargame.com for the HBCU Swingman Classic presented by T-Mobile at Globe Life Field on July 12th, and for Capital One All-Star Village at Choctaw Stadium from July 13th-16th.

MLB All-Star Week includes the MLB All-Star Game presented by Mastercard (July 16th), Gatorade All-Star Workout Day featuring the T-Mobile Home Run Derby (July 15th), All-Star Saturday featuring the All-Star Futures Game and the All-Star Celebrity Softball Game presented by Corona (July 13th), the MLB Draft presented by Nike (July 14th-16th), the HBCU Swingman Classic presented by T-Mobile (July 12th), and Capital One All-Star Village (July 13th-16th). The 94th Midsummer Classic will be televised nationally by FOX Sports; in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and RDS; and worldwide by partners in more than 200 countries. FOX Deportes will provide Spanish language coverage in the United States. ESPN Radio will provide exclusive national radio coverage of the All-Star Game, while Univision will provide Spanish language coverage on radio. MLB Network and MLB.com will also provide comprehensive All-Star Week coverage.

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