TORONTO — Minutes before his major-league debut in the ballpark about 35 miles from his high school against the team he grew up rooting for, Owen Caissie stretched by himself along the right-field line at the Rogers Centre.

The whirlwind journey to get him from Des Moines, Iowa, to Toronto in time for Thursday’s start was cutting it close enough that Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell wanted to make sure he would get there in time before officially locking him in batting fifth as the designated hitter in a 2-1 loss to the Blue Jays.

Even the Canadian’s parents made it to the stadium from their Burlington, Ontario, home before the Cubs top prospect arrived roughly 90 minutes before first pitch. Caissie had enough time to get some swings in the cage before stepping into the box against future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer. When Caissie called his parents to share the news of the call-up Wednesday night, he mentioned to his mom that Scherzer would be starting for the Blue Jays. That tidbit elicited a look of “good luck!” on his mom’s face.

Caissie was 5 years, 9 months old when Scherzer made his MLB debut.

“I felt good, took a couple good swings, but it was pretty cool,” Caissie said.

The 23-year-old slugger nearly recorded his first big-league hit on the first pitch he saw. He went the opposite way on Scherzer’s fastball that took an all-out diving catch by Blue Jays left fielder Davis Schneider to rob Caissie of an extra-base hit. Caissie, who finished 0 for 4 with a strikeout, called it a “welcome to the league” moment.

“It was surreal,” Caissie said. “Growing up watching Blue Jays, I’m just super thankful that the Cubs could make my debut happen but not only about my debut but in front of the Canadian people that I cherish so much. I’m super excited and got to keep rolling, hopefully get some more W’s along the road.”

The series finale quickly turned into a pitchers’ duel between Scherzer and left-hander Matthew Boyd.

Michael Busch homered in a second consecutive game to put the Cubs up 1-0 in the sixth, though it wouldn’t hold up long. Boyd’s only mistakes came against two of the first three Blue Jays hitters in the seventh. He issued a leadoff walk, his only of the day, and left an 0-2 curveball too much in the zone to Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who slugged it for the go-ahead two-run home run. Boyd allowed only two hits in seven innings, striking out five.

Caissie’s arrival won’t suddenly cure the Cubs’ continued struggles to come through with runners in scoring position.

The Cubs (68-52) finished 0 for 8 in such situations Thursday while leaving seven on base. Twice in the late innings they wasted prime scoring opportunities by failing to even put the ball in play. The Cubs got the first two on in the eighth trailing by a run, but with runners at second and third, the next three hitters — Ian Happ, Kyle Tucker and Carson Kelly — struck out. All three outs in the ninth also came on strikeouts with Willi Castro and Dansby Swanson whiffing to strand Nico Hoerner.

“We had a bunch of warning-track balls but just couldn’t get any kind of offense, couldn’t get an inning going, really at all,” Counsell said. “We just didn’t get the job done, simple as that.”

The Cubs fell eight games behind the first-place Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central.

Caissie’s big-league arrival is the culmination of nearly five years in the organization dating to when he became the standout piece in the multiplayer trade that sent Yu Darvish to the San Diego Padres in December 2020.

Counsell isn’t sure Caissie will have a big role while he’s in the majors — their outfielders have remained so healthy this season that this is the first time they brought up an outfielder from Triple-A — but this stretch of the schedule felt like a chance for the Cubs to be more flexible with their roster. Miguel Amaya’s left ankle sprain and subsequent move to the injured list Thursday created the opportunity for the Cubs to see what Caissie can do after delivering a .289 average, .389 on-base percentage and .955 OPS in 93 games for Iowa.

“He hits the ball extremely hard,” Counsell said. “I think he’s going to hit a lot of home runs someday — he’s not a home run hitter right now. He’s just a good all-around hitter, good plate discipline.”

Over the last six weeks, Caissie’s in-zone contact has improved and with it a notable decrease in his whiff rate. His steady rise through the minors at such a young age, often one of if not the youngest player at the level, meant repeating at Iowa this year. Counsell noted how that’s usually not the typical path for a prospect, but it’s “really a credit because Owen got to Triple-A so young and so quickly.”

“Just to keep going and for a season to keep getting better is a great sign for his drive and his commitment and dedication and his hunger, really,” Counsell said. “He’s earned this promotion, and we’re all really happy for him.”

Caissie became the fourth Cub to make his big-league debut this year at 23 or younger, joining right-hander Cade Horton, third baseman Matt Shaw and catcher/DH Moisés Ballesteros.

“To be a healthy organization, you need to have young players ready to step up and contribute,” assistant general manager and former farm director Jared Banner said Thursday. “So I think it’s a sign of our organizational health, and it’s a sign of a player development group that’s doing a really good job getting guys ready.”

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