MESA, Ariz. — The Cubs have made their first round of roster cuts this spring.

The team optioned outfielder Owen Caissie to Triple-A and non-roster outfielder Brett Bateman and right-handed pitchers Brandon Birdsell and Antonio Santos have been returned to minor league camp. The Cubs’ spring roster sits at 59 players.

None of the four players being sent down are necessarily too surprising — Caissie, Bateman and Birdsell are all dealing with injuries.

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Cubs manager Craig Counsell announced earlier in camp that Caissie, who underwent core surgery last October, suffered a left groin strain and would be shut down. He was always a long shot to make the Opening Day roster because the Cubs have a plethora of outfielders on their 40-man roster. But being in big-league camp still brought plenty of value for the top 100 prospect.

“We just talked about Kyle [Tucker] in terms of just talking to Owen Caissie for a little bit, and just how hard the big leagues [are],” Counsell said earlier this camp on the impact of being around veterans. “Kyle struggled a little bit, early in the big leagues and he’s one of the best hitters in the game. It’s what the game does to you.

“But I think you put great players on the field with players you think can get to that level. There’s going to be learning that goes on, there’s gonna be watching, there’s gonna be listening. That’s what you hope for.

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Birdsell suffered a right lat strain and was shut down from throwing for “3 to 4 weeks”. He was the Cubs’ minor league pitcher of the year after posting a 3.91 ERA across 135.2 innings with 134 strikeouts in 27 games with Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa.

“The goal for guys like a guy like Brandon Birdsell — who we know what he could do for the future of this organization — is to get him in camp and get him around players and just get to know what the workload looks like and what the routine looks like,” Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said earlier in camp. “And so even though he’s going to be down for a little bit, it’s not going to stop what I think he’s going to be able to accomplish being around the guys.

“And again, our ultimate goal with guys like him is to get him ready for a healthy season, not rush for Opening Day.”

Santos, 28, appeared in 14 games (13 starts) for Double-A Tennessee last season, compiling a 3.99 ERA and 1.04 WHIP in 70 innings. He has 10 big-league appearances under his belt across 2020 and 2021 with an 8.83 ERA. The righty spent the first half of 2024 with Puebla in the Mexican league.

Bateman, 22, suffered a right hamate injury earlier in camp and was slated to undergo surgery this week to repair it. The 2023 8th-round pick was in camp as outfield depth.