The Major League Baseball Chicago Cubs are currently in first place in the National League Central as of the 8th (Korea Standard Time). With a record of 54 wins and 36 losses (winning percentage .600), they are second in the National League in winning percentage, following the Los Angeles Dodgers (56 wins and 36 losses, winning percentage .609).
In the Cubs lineup, Japanese player Seiya Suzuki is leading Major League Baseball in runs batted in, while Kyle Tucker, acquired in a trade last December, rookie Pete Crow-Armstrong, franchise star Ian AAN, and Dansby Swanson are key players.
Michael Busch, who was traded from the Los Angeles Dodgers to the Cubs last year, has also become an indispensable core player in the Cubs lineup.
In January 2024, the Dodgers made a two-for-two trade with the Cubs. They sent infielder Busch and relief pitcher Yency Almonte to the Cubs in exchange for left-handed pitcher Jackson Ferris (21) and outfielder Jair Hope (20). The Dodgers immediately sent out immediate contributors and brought in minor league prospects.
Busch was drafted by the Dodgers with the 31st overall pick in the first round of the 2019 draft. He made his Major League debut in 2023, recording a .167 batting average, 2 home runs, and 7 runs batted in over 27 games.
He had a limited taste in his first year in the big leagues, but showed his potential with a .323 batting average, 27 home runs, and 90 runs batted in with an OPS of 1.049 in 98 games at Triple-A in 2023. In 2022, he played 142 games in Double-A and Triple-A, posting a .274 batting average, 32 home runs, 108 runs batted in, and an OPS of .881.
Busch was a top prospect in the Dodgers' farm system who could play first base, second base, third base, and the outfield. However, the Dodgers have locked in Gavin Lux as the starting second baseman for the 2024 season and could not keep Busch on the 40-man roster, utilizing him as a trade card.
Last year, Busch secured a position as the starting first baseman for the Cubs, playing 152 games with a .248 batting average, 21 home runs, 65 runs batted in, a .335 on-base percentage, a .440 slugging percentage, and an OPS of .775. Early in the season, he was mentioned as a Rookie of the Year candidate due to his impressive hitting.
Busch hit home runs in five consecutive games last year, marking the fifth time in Cubs history that a player had achieved this feat. He became one of the few to do so, joining Hack Wilson (1928), Ryne Sandberg (1989), Sammy Sosa (1998), and Christopher Morel (2023) in this achievement.
Busch is taking another step forward this season. He has played in 84 games, posting a .297 batting average, 18 home runs, 56 runs batted in, an on-base percentage of .384, a slugging percentage of .566, and an OPS of 950. He is expected to record similar home run and runs batted in numbers to his total from last season in the first half.
On the 5th, Busch hit three home runs in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals. This was the first time a Cubs first baseman had achieved three home runs in a single game in 62 years, since Ernie Banks in 1963. On that day, Busch launched three homers, while Crow-Armstrong hit two, and Suzuki, Swanson, and Carlson Kelly each added one, marking the first time in the Cubs' 129-year history that they hit eight home runs in a single game.
MLB.com updated and released the power rankings of all 30 major league teams on the 8th. The Detroit Tigers ranked first, the Dodgers second, the Houston Astros third, and the Cubs fourth.
MLB.com noted, "Seiya Suzuki is leading Major League Baseball in runs batted in, yet did not make the All-Star Game, garnering much media attention, but it could be argued that Michael Busch experienced an even greater oversight. The three home runs he hit against St. Louis are merely the pinnacle of a fantastic season for the former Dodgers player."
The outlet also mentioned, "There may be something you didn’t know. Among all the star players in the Cubs, including Kyle Tucker, Pete Crow-Armstrong, and Suzuki, Busch is leading in two of the three slash categories, with a batting average of .297 and a slugging percentage of .566. In on-base percentage (.384 vs .387), he is a close second to Tucker."
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