I know MLB still has major issues to address, especially when it comes to making their games available to their fans because local blackouts are awful, but I do love how we can watch all these minor league games now through MLBTV. Rob Manfred, I’ll wait for my check in the mail.

The Chicago Cubs were off on Thursday, but all their minor league affiliates were in action and outfield prospect Owen Caissie continued his rampage at Double-A.

Owen Caissie Triples and Homers

I mean hey, it’s not a three homer game, but Owen Caissie slugged two more extra base hits on Thursday for the Tennessee Smokies. In the second inning, Jordan Nwogu walked with one out and on a 2-2 pitch Caissie lined a ball to the right-field corner. Nwogu scored easily, while Caissie slid into third base for an RBI-triple.

In the sixth inning Nwogu and Caissie hit back-to-back home runs. Nwogu’s homer was a three-run shot.

For Caissie, this was his fourth home run in two games, to go along with his triple earlier in the game.

Owen Caissie Last 2 Games
5-fo-9, 4 HR, 1 3B, 8 RBI, 19 Total Bases

Huge stuff from Caissie, who a year ago had subpar power numbers playing at advanced A-Ball with the South Bend Cubs. The left-handed hitter slugged .402, and hit 11 home runs in 433 plate appearances. So far, six of Caissie’s eight hits have been extra base hits: 4 home runs, 1 double, 1 triple.

What might be even more impressive after this hot streak is that Caissie is doing this as a 20-year-old in Double-A. There are fewer than 10 players up at this level right now and Caissie is so far performing the best out of that group.

And yes, as you probably noticed Caissie has struck out 56 percent of the time, but just like he won’t be slugging .958 all season he’s also not going to strike out more than half the time. Sample size is only 25 plate appearances.

Again, we can point to last year and see that Caissie did struggle with swing and miss, but even with a 28.6 percent strikeout rate, he was one of the youngest hitters playing at his level. The strikeouts will go down as the season goes on, but the power numbers do have increase from last year if Caissie wants to take a giant leap as a prospect. So far, so good.

Matt Mervis, Christopher Morel Destroying Triple-A

Yeah, Cubs fans Christopher Morel back up with the team ASAP.

The 23-year-old hit his third home run for the Iowa Cubs on Thursday, ending the game 2-for-5, also adding a double and walk to his stat sheet.

Christopher Morel 10 Games at Triple-A
.375/.510/.800, 3 HR, 6 2B, 1 3B, 12 RBI, 12 R

In 51 plate appearances, Morel has struck out 15 times, but he’s also drawn 10 walks, good for a 19.6 percent walk rate.

Meanwhile, Matt Mervis is showing great plate discipline against Triple-A pitching, continuing his trend from 2022, when the left-handed slugger improved his walk rate throughout the season and lowered his strikeout rate at the same time. So far in 52 plate appearances with the Iowa Cubs, Mervis has more walks than strikeouts, 11BB/9K.

Matt Mervis 11 Games at Triple-A
.263/.423/.553, 3 HR, 2 2B, 13 RBI, 13 R

On Thursday, Mervis was 2-for-4 and he drove in a run with a fantastic bases-loaded walk after a nine-pitch plate appearance.

Eric Hosmer has put up solid results through the first two weeks of the season, but he’s still hitting the ball on the ground at a very high rate and as a team overall, they lack power. The offense has been able to score despite the lack of slug, but over the course of a season that trend tends to backfire.

Cubs fans should keep pounding the table for Mervis and Morel.