The Cubs’ second-year first baseman is featured in this installment. If he performs as expected, the team will be in good shape.
Michael Busch (No. 29 in your program) was acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers, January 12, 2024, notoriously for Jackson Ferris and Zyhir Hope, who are panning out in the low minors but have yet to impact The Show. Yency Almonte, who was briefly effective, came along for the ride.
Busch himself slashed .248/.335/.440, with a 2.8 bWAR (2.3 fWAR). He was dinged some for his perceived lack of defense at his position but improved greatly during the season and is at least a league-average glove now. He seems to have decent instincts for the game and his bat was a little more potent than was expected, especially for one five-game stretch.
And who could forget his four-hit performance versus his former team?
Seriously. Busch isn’t a big guy but he has good power.
“He’s ready for the big leagues, and so he’s going to get a shot,” manager Craig Counsell said. “There’s no question about it. He’s done everything you could possibly do in Minor League Baseball. He’s ready for a Major League shot.”
He took that shot and ran with it, OPSing a respectable .775 in 2024, with 21 homers and 65 RBI.
We’d take that again. An uptick in runs batted in would seem reasonable given the people who surround him and his place in the batting order. A line of .250/.350/.450 would be attainable and also is a cool number if you like such things, and so we’ll go with that. Of course, YMMV, as always.
So… 23 HR, 80 RBI, 65 walks, something like 160 SO. That’s not so bad. I think he gets a little dinged with Swanson behind him unless the hitting becomes contagious, but Swanson has his dangerous moments. We’ll be looking at him next time.
Busch with the glove had four errors in over 1000 chances, was part of 68 double-plays, got better as the season went along. He doesn’t have the wingspan to make some of the more difficult double plays but he has the grace of the hockey player he once was and is athletic enough to snag some errors out of the dirt (and take the extra base — he has at least average speed and runs the bases well, usually).
Is he Rizzo? No. He hasn’t the power or the soft hands. He hasn’t Rizzo’s charisma, either, which is okay. These Cubs are a pretty low-key squad.
Busch could fail and go .220/.320/.420. I don’t see it, though.
Thanks for reading. As always, feel free to discuss among yourselves.