A day after top prospect Owen Caissie’s big league dream came true, the Cubs pumped the brakes on the idea that he would be taking over their struggling-to-score lineup.
Caissie didn’t play in the series-opening loss Friday to the Pirates as the Cubs try to keep sight of the outrageously hot Brewers at the top of the National League Central.
In the middle of a deep offensive rut — they’ve scored two runs or fewer in eight of their 13 games this month — the Cubs certainly can use Caissie’s bat.
The 23-year-old outfielder hit .289/.389/.566 with 22 home runs in 93 games for Triple-A Iowa before going 0-for-4 in his major-league debut Thursday against the Blue Jays.
But the Wrigley Field faithful had to wait for an in-person introduction to Caissie, a hitter who might be able to play a part in getting a once-potent offense back in shape.
Asked Friday to describe himself to the fan base, Caissie said he was ‘‘a guy who can change the game and really a good, solid player.’’
Caissie doesn’t seem to have much room to insert himself as an every-day option in an outfield that boasts three All-Stars in Ian Happ, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Kyle Tucker. Meanwhile, Seiya Suzuki is fairly entrenched as the Cubs’ DH, the position Caissie played in his debut.
That means a fine tightrope to walk for manager Craig Counsell, who not long ago said the Cubs didn’t want to call up prospects who didn’t have an opportunity to play regularly.
But the Cubs’ teamwide offensive outage seemingly has created an opening. Tucker (batting .182 in the second half), Crow-Armstrong (.230) and Suzuki (.188) have been cold at the plate.
Counsell said the Cubs are taking it game by game with Caissie.
‘‘What we don’t want to happen is that he comes and doesn’t play a lot,’’ Counsell said. ‘‘But he’s also got to cross the bar of being the best option. In our outfield, that’s pretty difficult. That’s the balance that we’re going to have to strike. With the number of games we have coming up, we’ll see how that rolls out. But there’s no strict plan of, ‘He’s got to play this amount or certain days.’ ’’
‘‘I’m here for whatever they need me to do,’’ Caissie said. ‘‘Any aspect of the game, I’m here for that. It’s pretty cool that they trust me for that, and I’m really going to do my best.’’
PCA bangs up knee
Before he was thrown out trying to steal second in the ninth inning, Crow-Armstrong hurt his knee on a failed attempt at making a diving catch on the warning track in center field in the seventh.
Counsell said after the game that Crow-Armstrong’s knee was banged up on the play, though he was able to continue. He was hit by a pitch to lead off the seventh and scored on a sacrifice fly. He singled to start the ninth — part of a three-hit day — before over-sliding second on the aforementioned stolen-base try.
As for that out in the ninth that snuffed out a potential threat?
‘‘If we’ve got Pete Crow-Armstrong on first,’’ Counsell said, ‘‘we’re going to run.’’