The Cubs will replace one outfield prospect for another on Monday, as ESPN’s Jesse Rogers reports that Kevin Alcantara will be called up from Triple-A Iowa and Owen Caissie is being sent back to Triple-A. No further transaction is needed since Alcantara is already on the 40-man roster.
Alcantara made his Major League debut last September, appearing in three games for the Cubs right at the very end of the 2024 season and getting one hit in 10 plate appearances. This remains Alcantara’s only big league exposure, as he has spent the entirety of the 2025 campaign in Iowa. After hitting well in 35 Triple-A games in 2024, Alcantara has kept it going this year, with a .266/.349/.470 slash line and 17 home runs over 430 plate appearances this season.
A regular on top-100 prospect lists for a few years now, Alcantara was 71st on Baseball America’s preseason ranking and 90th on MLB Pipeline’s list. Despite his solid numbers this year, Alcantara actually dropped out of both outlets’ midseason top-100 updates, though both BA and Pipeline each still have the outfielder ranked fifth within the deep Chicago farm system. The biggest red flag is his 29.8% strikeout rate at Triple-A, as his power potential and hard contact ability is mitigated the large amount of swing-and-miss in his game, and evaluators also note that Alcantara is only really productive against fastballs.
It seems likely that Alcantara would’ve received a longer look in the majors by now if he wasn’t on a team so deep in outfielders. Between Kyle Tucker, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Ian Happ, and Seiya Suzuki (as a part-time OF and regular DH) all staying healthy and productive, only four other players have received any time in the Wrigleyville outfield during the 2025 season. Utility players Willi Castro, Jon Berti, and Vidal Brujan each got a handful of games in the outfield, and Caissie made seven appearances on the grass during the 11 overall games of his first Major League call-up.
Caissie received 25 PA, and hit .208/.240/.375 while starting six of his 11 games. The lack of playing time wasn’t a surprise given the crowded nature of Chicago’s outfield, yet the rather quick demotion adds to the question about why exactly Caissie was even called up in the first place. Alcantara brings more defensive versatility since he can play center field, whereas Caissie is a corner outfielder.
Using top prospects as bench depth isn’t exactly ideal, though the Cubs are somewhat stuck (if that’s the correct term) between their twin desires of having their minor leaguers play every day, and also having the best active roster possible. As limited as these cameos have been, giving Alcantara or Caissie some experience in the big leagues could be beneficial in advance of their possible inclusion on a playoff roster, or if an injury did arise to one of the Cubs’ outfield regulars.
All about PCA’s slumps and ability to play CF.
Open question to commenters who geek out tracking the various stats: Does Caissie’s .208 avg require some contextualizing? He didn’t get many at bats, so a few extra hits can be the difference between an unfortunate BA and a respectable one. I recall in Caissie’s first at-bat he was robbed by a great catch in left field. I recall one, maybe two other instances of him being outright robbed. Plus, it seemed like he was smacking the ball pretty good, and going opposite field an impressive number of times.
Are there available stats that back up my impression, that Caissie was a bit better than .208, and kind of unlucky to run into some amazing defensive plays and hitting the ball hard but right at outfielders?
No matter what the stats say, I’m looking forward to seeing what he does next year, especially if the Cubs don’t re-sign Tucker, or the year after, when Happ is eligible for free agency.
Alcantara has been a bust for a couple years now and it seems that the rankers are just now realizing it.
Is palencia as an excuse for poor performances lately going to put him on disabled list with some phantom arm injury to save face on giving him closer role as an unproven closer.
From the West coast, so not sure, but always wondered why some call it “Chicagoland.” ?? Is it just a reference to its vast suburbs or something ?