Owen Caissie Among First Cuts as Cubs Trim Spring Roster to 59

Spring training roster changes are upon us, with the Cubs removing four players from the major league camp roster on Wednesday afternoon.

These moves were all expected, with Owen Caissie, Brett Bateman, and Brandon Birdsell all being injured at the moment. Bateman is scheduled to undergo hamate surgery on his hamate this week and Birdsell will be shut down for a couple more weeks. Caissie’s status is unknown, although he has not participated in baseball activities for a few days due to a groin strain and doesn’t seem close to appearing in games.

The roster is currently at 59 players and will need to be significantly reduced before the team heads to Tokyo in just a few weeks. See the media release below for more details.

MESA, Ariz. – The Chicago Cubs today reduced the spring roster from 63 to 59 players.

Outfielder Owen Caissie has been optioned to Triple-A Iowa.

Outfielder Brett Bateman and right-handed pitchers Brandon Birdsell and Antonio Santos have been returned to minor league camp.

Chicago’s spring roster of 59 players consists of 33 pitchers (nine non-roster invitees), six catchers (four non-roster invitees), 12 infielders (four non-roster invitees) and eight outfielders (three non-roster invitees).