Player: Michael Busch
Position: 1st-Base
Height: 6’1 Weight: 210 Age: 26 Bats/Throws: L/R Current Level: MLB
MLB.com Rank: 3rd in Cubs System
Acquired: In trade with Los Angeles Dodgers with Yency Almonte for Jackson Ferris and Zyhir Hope on January 11th, 2024
Hometown: Inver Grove Heights, MN
College: North Carolina
The Cubs acquired Michael Busch in January in a really interesting trade with the Dodgers. Busch is a Top 100 prospect who was seemingly blocked from finding consistent Big-League time in LA.
Prior to embarking on his pro career, Busch spent three seasons at North Carolina, where he boasted a remarkable .282/.429/.492 slash line. He became a 1st round pick of the Dodgers in 2019 (31st overall).
In his time in the Dodgers organization, Busch has continued to hit at all levels. He did get a little bit of time at the Major-Level Level last season but really not enough to draw anything from.
Michael Busch Hitting Stats by Level
| Season | Level | Age | PA | HR | RBI | BB% | K% | AVG | OBP | SLG | wOBA | wRC+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | R | 21 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 6.3% | 12.5% | .077 | .250 | .077 | .207 | 20 |
| 2019 | A | 21 | 19 | 0 | 2 | 31.6% | 15.8% | .182 | .474 | .182 | .370 | 131 |
| 2021 | AA | 23 | 495 | 20 | 67 | 14.1% | 26.1% | .267 | .386 | .484 | .388 | 134 |
| 2022 | AA | 24 | 137 | 11 | 29 | 17.5% | 26.3% | .306 | .445 | .667 | .473 | 176 |
| 2022 | AAA | 24 | 504 | 21 | 79 | 9.9% | 26.0% | .266 | .343 | .480 | .353 | 102 |
| 2023 | AAA | 25 | 469 | 27 | 90 | 13.9% | 18.8% | .323 | .431 | .618 | .449 | 150 |
| 2023 | MLB | 25 | 81 | 2 | 7 | 9.9% | 33.3% | .167 | .247 | .292 | .241 | 49 |
Busch’s strengths lie in his offensive performance, characterized by a potent combination of power and patience. His swing allows him to effectively cover the entire strike zone, driving pitches with authority into all fields. Coming up with the Dodgers, he’s drawn comparisons to Max Muncy, albeit with a higher batting average. The obvious weakness for Busch has been on the defensive side. He came up as a middle infielder and has spent time at first and third base. As you’ll see below, many scouts have him graded as 20 defensively, which is the worst grade you can have.
Scouting Grades
| Hitting | Game Power | Raw Power | Speed | Fielding |
| 50/50 | 50/60 | 60/60 | 45/45 | 20/20 |
With the defensive issues and already having Freddie Freeman at first and Shohei Ohtani at DH, you can see why there was no room for Busch in LA. He’s in Chicago for his bat and we’re hoping he can find a home at first. There’s no denying the bat is big league ready, and the Cubs could definitely use another bat with pop in 2024.