July 9, 2020

By J.P. Antonacci

Canadian Baseball Network

They call him Orange Crush on account of his prodigious power and bright red hair.

Owen Caissie’s coaches also call him the most driven young ballplayer they know.

“He blew my arm out,” said George Halim, director of player development with the Fieldhouse Pirates and Caissie’s batting practice pitcher for the past two years.

“It was BP every single night,” Halim said. “We’d hit until one in the morning sometimes, and he’d be right back in the next day.”

Caissie’s mighty swing and relentless work ethic convinced the San Diego Padres to make the 17-year-old outfielder from Burlington the highest-drafted Canadian in the 2020 MLB Draft, taking him in the second round, 45th overall.

“Honestly, it was the best moment of my coaching career,” said Halim, who went to a draft party at Caissie’s house with Fieldhouse head coach Lee Delfino.

“Good players force good coaches. I couldn’t be a bad coach around him,” Halim said. “To be even mentioned in the same breath as Owen is pretty humbling. He deserves all the credit. He put in so much work, and the guys around him pushed him too. All his teammates that grew up with him, they all played a small role in who he is today.”

Caissie essentially grew up at the Thunderdome, the unofficial name of the Pirates’ high-performance training facility in Burlington.

“I’ve been able to go there every day for around six years, because I live five minutes away,” Caissie said.

“When I was a little kid, I used to bike up there with a 50-pound duffel bag full of bats. It was honestly awesome to get all the coaching, and it was really key for me to get it every day – just get my work in and really develop as a player.”

Stories of Caissie’s obsession with excellence recall Joey Votto’s high school days at Richview Collegiate in Etobicoke. Like Votto, who was drafted 44th overall in 2002, Caissie sees every spare moment as a chance to improve.

“I’ll tell you my daily routine,” Caissie said. “For the last two years, I’d wake up, eat, go to school, work out at break, do my subjects – I was a decent student, 80 average – come home, eat, and go right to Fieldhouse. That’s pretty much what I did.”

Over that time, Halim watched the left-handed slugger fill out his six-foot-four frame and fill his head with baseball knowledge.

“He gets it. When we talk about hitting, it’s not just hitting, it’s understanding how your body moves,” said Halim, who praised Caissie’s “extremely high” baseball IQ.

Rather than copying any one player’s swing, Caissie focuses on individual elements of many swings – Barry Bonds’ rotational power, Carlos Correa’s front lead arm, Aaron Judge’s spine angle, and more – and uses video and analytical tools to refine his own approach.

“He’s so competitive that he picks apart little things from other people and says ‘how can I use this to make myself better?’” Halim said.

“I remember one point in the off-season, (we worked on) the breaking ball low and in. Owen said, ‘I struggle with those.’ And then sure enough, three weeks later, he’s like, ‘Remember when I sucked at those?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, now you’re smashing them.’”

At Tournament 12 in Toronto last September, Caissie showed off his power by crushing a pitch into the fifth deck at Rogers Centre during batting practice and winning the tournament’s inaugural home run derby.

In game situations, he studies pitchers’ tendencies and does his homework, so when he’s in the batter’s box he can clear his mind.

“I try to take a deep breath before I go into the box. As soon as I go in the box, it’s see ball, hit ball – react to the ball and hit the ball,” Caissie said. “It’s very, very simple. I just want to let my actions take over. That’s when I do my best.”

Caissie credits his parents – Jason, a crane operator, and Michelle, who works in planning and watershed management with Conservation Halton – for teaching him to “work hard and see the payoff.”

“I saw their work ethic and I guess it kinda got passed down,” he said. “I saw how hard my dad worked for my family, same with my mom, and I want to make them proud, so I’ve gotta work hard too.”

In turn, Caissie sets an example for the younger Pirates.

“The impact that he had on guys just reverberates throughout the organization,” Halim said. “You can’t ignore the fact that he’s obsessive about what he does. You can’t deviate him from what he wants to do.”

To stay sharp after the pandemic cut short the Canadian Junior National Team’s tour of MLB spring training parks – in their final game on March 12, facing Blue Jays minor leaguer Connor Overton, Caissie launched a 449-foot home run to dead centre – he hoisted an axe and headed to the yard to chop wood.

“The government would cut down old hydro poles and then my dad would section them up and bring them home for me to have a basic full-body workout, because all the gyms are closed,” Caissie explained.

“We’d just do it in my backyard. It was pretty tough, but I maintained my strength and maintained my weight, so I was pretty happy about it.”

PADRES REACH FOR A FUTURE STAR

The shortened spring season didn’t dim enthusiasm around the league for Caissie’s combination of power and speed, which propelled him up pre-draft rankings. Baseball America had him as the 180th best prospect, while MLB Pipeline ranked him 76th heading into the June draft.

Padres area scout Chris Kemlo knew Caissie better than most, having first met the youngster four or five years prior at a Futures Game when coaching alongside Halim with Prep Baseball Report.

The two quickly realized Caissie was “pretty special,” Halim recalled.

Kemlo, who replaced longtime amateur scout Murray Zuk as San Diego’s man in Canada, convinced the club to reach up the draft board to ensure Caissie would join fellow Canucks Josh Naylor and Cal Quantrill in the Padres system.

“I think that’s a testament to Kemlo and his ability to scout and fight for his guys,” Halim said. “When he was given the opportunity, he didn’t waste it.”

Padres director of amateur scouting Mark Conner told local media that the club “was drawn to the swing and the power.”

“And then you get around him and you see how he’s wired,” Conner said.

“This guy is a top-of-the-scale worker. He has top-of-the-scale desire and passion. The combination of a good swing with power from the left side and elite makeup, that’s super exciting for us to add to the organization.”

Caissie said it was “pretty special” to be scouted by Kemlo and a thrill to be drafted – an achievement celebrated by his family, Pirates teammates and coaches, and friends at Notre Dame Catholic Secondary School in Burlington.

“I try to keep pretty humble. But they’re obviously very excited for me,” he said. “It’s not too often that a kid from Canada gets an opportunity (like this). I’m very fortunate, and they’re very happy for me.”

Halim said despite all the buzz surrounding him, Caissie “never talked about the draft” heading into it.

“He just wanted to play,” Halim said. “The draft is about talent, but it’s about who you are as well. He goes from being the top dog in Canada to being a minor league, and now he’s at the bottom again. Obviously, he’s got some clout around him. He has all the makings of a five-tooler. But he’s still gotta work.”

Caissie visited San Diego for the first time last month to sign his contract, which included a $1.2 million signing bonus. If he has his way, the kid they call Orange Crush will be crushing baseballs in California before the Padres know it.

“I just want to get out and play some professional baseball, because it’s what I’ve worked towards, and I want it to happen,” Caissie said.

“And I haven’t made it anywhere yet. So it’s going to take a lot more hard work. Too bad the COVID dropped, but I’m just going to keep myself ready for whatever happens now.”