Ontario Outfielders Caissie And Calabrese Headline 2020 Canadian Draft Class
June 16, 2020
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Ontario Outfielders Caissie And Calabrese Headline 2020 Canadian Draft Class
In a year that provided so many uncertainties in regards to the MLB Draft, it’s seemed almost certain for the past year that Ontario outfielders Owen Caissie and David Calabrese would be the first two Canadians to hear their names called this past Wednesday.
That’s exactly how things went down in the five-round draft when the pair heard their names called on the West Coast with Caissie going to Padres in the second round (No. 45) and Calabrese going to the Angels in the third round (No. 82).
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Owen Caissie OF / Notre Dame, ON / 2020
The offensive tools played on the big stage beginning at the Canada Cup when he slashed .375/.583/.625 with two doubles and two triples en route to a silver medal with Team Ontario in Regina. He followed that up on Canadian soil again in September at T12 when he slashed .400/.600./.800 with two doubles and a triple. Despite the in-game numbers from the Burlington native at Toronto’s T12, anyone following the tournament likely remembers Caissie more for his performance in the Home Run Derby when he claimed the belt with 18 total home runs, including one than landed in the third deck.
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Caissie jumped onto the scene in 2018 at the Future Games in Grand Park when he committed to the University of Kentucky shortly after the event but 2019 was truly the coming out party for the 6-foot-4, 190-pound Fieldhouse product.  |
David Calabrese OF / St. Elizabeth CHS, ON / 2020
Calabrese will be able to handle the middle of the diamond in centre thanks to his top of the scale speed which allows him to use his tool on the defensive side and eb a posittion he can stick at because of that athleticism. In two games at T12 in September, Calabrese went 4-for-7 with a walk, two triples and two RBI’s and carried that momentum at the plate into the spring with Team Canada when once again he stood out among the best, alongside Caissie.
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For Calabrese, a 5-foot-11 outfielder from the Ontario Blue Jays, it wasn’t as much the power that put him on the map but rather the speed and hit tool which allowed him to stand out on several big stages as well as when he went up against pro pitching in March.Caissie and Calabrese were the only two to leave the yard back in March and little did those two know at the time that those would be their final games played ahead of June’s draft but both were still able to head into the draft under positive notes.
Despite the lack of the looks we may have had due to cancellations, we’ve seen our fair share of these two at PBR events over the years including last year’s ProCase, probably more than anyone else in the Country in fact.
The pair headlined this five round draft for Ontario as the top two Canadians selected and now the two must work out deals with their new clubs before things can get official, otherwise the two have a second option of attending college where Caissie would head off to Michigan and Calabrese to Arkansas.
It looks as though both will be able to ink deals and add to the crop of talented players already in professional baseball.