One swing from Owen Caissie just put Craig Counsell in an impossible spot

With their offense scuffling, the Chicago Cubs promoted their top prospect, Owen Caissie, to the Majors to make his MLB debut. While he only started one of his first four games, Caissie has now found his way into the lineup in back-to-back days. It's safe to say he's made the most of those opportunities: He had his first MLB hit on Monday, and launched his first MLB home run on Tuesday.

This home run came only five innings after he drove in a pair of runs with a key bases-loaded single. It's taken just a handful of at-bats for Caissie to show he can be a meaningful contributor at the MLB level for a Cubs team trying to win the World Series in 2025. There's one problem, though: Will Caissie be able to play regularly?

Manager Craig Counsell certainly has his hands full in one regard.

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Owen Caissie deserves regular playing time, but there's one problem

Caissie has the talent to make a real difference in a scuffling Cubs lineup, but where exactly is he going to play? Caissie is primarily a corner outfielder who could chip in at DH. The problem is that all of those spots are filled.

He was in right field on Tuesday in place of the struggling Kyle Tucker. Counsell revealed that Tucker might sit out for a couple of days to reset, but once that's done, he's almost certainly going to be in the lineup regularly, and deservingly so. He's Kyle Tucker.

Caissie can play left field as well, but that's where Ian Happ, a proven veteran, slots in. The Cubs might opt to sit Happ down more than usual, but given his track record, it's unlikely he'll be benched full-time.

If the Cubs were to decide to use Caissie at DH, that means Seiya Suzuki would either have to play the field or be benched. Playing him in the field isn't the worst idea in the world, but that'd require benching Tucker, Happ or Pete Crow-Armstrong to make it fit.

The Cubs have five players for four spots, four of whom are established as really prominent contributors in Chicago. Counsell has even admitted as such. Caissie is deserving of playing time, and the Cubs are better off finding a way to get him into the lineup, but considering the fact that this was only his third MLB game, the odds of him playing regularly are incredibly slim.

Craig Counsell must earn his paycheck with Owen Caissie situation

Caissie might not have the track record of his peers, but he's arguably the hottest hitter on this Cubs roster right now. Taking his bat out of the lineup feels like the wrong thing to do, and is something Counsell should avoid. The problem, of course, is that his job is to manage egos. Tucker, Suzuki, Happ and Crow-Armstrong all expect to play every day, and for good reason. They likely won't take the news of getting benched more than once in a blue moon too well. Happ even went as far as to say he's at a point in his career where he's going to play every day as if it's a foregone conclusion.

Winning has to come first. Happ is a good player, but he, along with most of his Cubs teammate, has been struggling. Benching him in favor of Caissie might get the Cubs' lineup going again and help them win games. That should be Counsell's priority, but making sure the clubhouse doesn't fall apart is important too.

Caissie has to play everyday with where the Cubs are now. Whether Counsell is able to pull that off, though, remains to be seen.