Inside Michael Busch's long road to becoming an instant success with the Cubs

Michael Busch has been a first-round draft pick, a top-100 prospect and a Pacific Coast League MVP during his ascent toward the majors. In most organizations, that kind of résumé gets you fast-tracked to the big leagues. But as a prospect in the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ system, the path was much more complicated.

First, it was perennial All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman signing a long-term deal to occupy Busch’s primary position in Los Angeles for years to come. Then, an offseason later, it was Shohei Ohtani joining the Dodgers, likely penciling Ohtani’s name into the designated hitter spot for the next decade.

Busch insists he wasn’t fazed by the splashy additions crowding L.A.’s depth chart before he could get the chance to prove himself at Dodger Stadium. But there was one question the former North Carolina star was consistently asked this offseason: Where would he get his at-bats?

“I got that a lot from my friends,” Busch told ESPN this week. “I was always like, ‘Adding those guys is going to increase our chances to win.’ I looked at it as: ‘How can I help this ballclub now?’ Honestly, that was my mindset.”

Busch put that to practice in recent seasons, agreeing to play all over the diamond in hopes of finding a place that would allow him to showcase his bat as an everyday player. Despite the challenges that come with learning a new position each year, Busch never stopped hitting, belting 32 home runs in 2022 and following up by posting a 1.049 OPS on his way to winning the Pacific Coast League’s top honor last season.

“They gave me an opportunity to play second base and I was excited about it,” Busch said with a smile. “Then last year they gave me an opportunity to play third base and I never played third base in my life. I got excited about that as well.”

Then on Jan. 12, Busch’s road to the majors finally opened up — but not with the team that drafted him in 2019. Busch and reliever Yency Almonte were traded to the Chicago Cubs for Single-A players Zyhir Hope and Jackson Ferris — a pair of prospects who were high on L.A’s draft board before being selected by the Cubs.

“It just became harder and harder with the way we were constructed to get him playing time,” Dodgers GM Brandon Gomes said recently. “We all felt Michael was a big leaguer and ready to take the next step towards facing MLB pitching every day. And we just didn’t have the opportunity to do that.”

A move that went under the radar during the hot stove season alleviated the Dodgers’ 40-man roster crunch while giving the Cubs a potential long-term solution at a position they have struggled to fill since trading away Anthony Rizzo in 2021.

“He fit the profile of a need that we had,” Cubs GM Carter Hawkins said. “We knew that he was a player that was going to be available, and we knew he was really good — but the Dodgers knew he was really good and weren’t going to give him away.”

The timing of the trade allowed Busch to immediately introduce himself in his new home. Upon learning of the deal, he left in the middle of a visit to Chapel Hill to head to Chicago, put on a Cubs jersey and walked out to applause at Cubs Convention — even though he didn’t entirely know what the team’s popular offseason event was.

“I just know how important it is to be on a team and to build that culture,” Busch said. “Showing up to spring training made it a little easier after being at the convention.”

But the real introduction came a few months later, when Busch entered the season with his name atop an MLB depth chart for the first time. The Cubs’ new first baseman immediately impressed his teammates with his ability at the plate, hitting .389 with five RBIs in six games during his first Wrigley Field homestand — and belting his first home run against the team that drafted him in a thrilling win over the Dodgers.

Then came the streak. From April 10 to April 15, Busch homered in five straight games, tying a franchise mark that put his name in the record books alongside Chicago icons Sammy Sosa and Ryne Sandberg.

“Even before he had that out-of-body stretch of home runs, I saw the consistency in his at-bats, against all types of pitchers, leverage counts, two strike counts, whatever,” second baseman Nico Hoerner said. “And then the raw power is more than I realized.”

Busch’s ability to hit with authority from the left side was already an important component of a lineup that struggled against right-handed pitching a season ago, and it has become even more important now that Cody Bellinger is out with two cracked ribs suffered while running into the Wrigley Field wall.

“I think we’re in that position,” manager Craig Counsell said. “To minimize [the absence] a little bit. And to cover it a little bit.”

Bellinger isn’t the only key player missing from the lineup. The Cubs are also without right fielder Seiya Suzuki, who injured an oblique in the midst of a red-hot start to the season, adding to the need for Busch and others to pick up the slack to avoid a drop-off like the one Chicago suffered when Bellinger was out this past May.

“The challenge part of it I love,” Busch said. “I’ve been happy with the adjustments in my career, dating back to high school and college and pro ball. I think I can continue that here.”

Mike Tauchman, who is filling in for Bellinger in center field, has noticed a presence from Busch that you’d expect to see from a seasoned veteran, rather than a rookie with just 50 major league games under his belt.

“He has a pretty natural feel for how to take at-bats,” Tauchman said. “The home runs have been impressive, but that stuff can come and go. But when he’s not hitting home runs, he’s in control of his at-bats.

“The adjustments have come pretty quickly, which signals a pretty mature approach for a young player. There isn’t a ton of overreaction to a bad at-bat, which is hard to do.”

That scouting report might remind fans of the last player to hold down first base in Chicago for an extended period — and Busch isn’t backing down from the challenge of living up to the standard Rizzo set at the position.

“Great player and doing it at a high level for a long time,” Busch said. “You hear about how good he was in the clubhouse. He loved to work, he loved to play. So do I.”