{"id":49233,"date":"2025-04-18T13:49:23","date_gmt":"2025-04-18T13:49:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=49233"},"modified":"2025-04-18T13:49:23","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T13:49:23","slug":"michael-busch-heats-up-for-a-chicago-cubs-offense-looking-to-stay-on-a-roll-hes-making-such-good-decisions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=49233","title":{"rendered":"Michael Busch heats up for a Chicago Cubs offense looking to stay on a roll: \u2018He\u2019s making such good decisions\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

When Chicago Cubs first baseman Michael Busch gets on a roll, it tends to be at a level that can carry the offense.<\/p>\n

The Cubs witnessed it last year at this time when he slugged a home run in six consecutive games during a three-city swing to San Diego, Seattle and Phoenix, providing the first look of the type of power Busch can possess against big-league pitching. Busch provided a big boost during the Cubs\u2019 3-3 trip to Los Angeles and San Diego, at one point in a four-game stretch against two of the best teams in baseball going 8-for-19 (.421) with three doubles, three home runs and six RBIs versus the Dodgers and Padres.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s the king of the West Coast, it\u2019s amazing,\u201d president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Tuesday. \u201cEvery year we come out here, he starts killing it. He\u2019s been remarkable against right-handed pitching. He had a little blip in the beginning of the year, but he locked in kind of Day 1.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s making such good decisions at the plate, he gives himself a chance every at-bat and he\u2019s looking to do damage, which I love,\u201d Hoyer said. \u201cHe\u2019s looking to drive the baseball, and I think that started to show up on the trip and hopefully keeps it going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether Busch has formally requested the Cubs always play on the West Coast this time of year, he grinned and put a finger to his lip, \u201cShhhh.\u201d<\/p>\n

Busch, 27, ranks among the best offensive first baseman in MLB as he begins his second full season in the majors. He ranks fifth in slugging percentage (.567) and Isolated Power (.284) and sixth in fWAR (0.6), wOBA (.401), and wRC+ (161).<\/p>\n

Busch has shown a willingness to be more aggressive this year, resulting in an uptick of first-pitch contact in the zone.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re getting pitches to hit and you\u2019re hitting them and you\u2019re putting them forward, usually good things happen,\u201d Busch said Wednesday. \u201cWhen things don\u2019t go well, just kind of looking back and maybe instead of it being a swing adjustment or mechanical change, it\u2019s more of getting somebody in the zone and not missing a pitch.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me being confident enough to, no matter who\u2019s on the mound, I\u2019ve got a pretty good chance, but also being humble enough to understand that the guy might have it that day and he might be spotting up and he might be nasty, and just trying to maybe simplify things a little more, but playing that game throughout the season is definitely important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Busch believes he also has benefitted from a Cubs lineup that largely has been collectively on a roll through the first three weeks. Having Seiya Suzuki or Kyle Tucker hitting in front of him certainly doesn\u2019t hurt. The Cubs have been a top-five offense despite frigid conditions during their first homestand last week and a tough schedule that has pitted them against some of the best teams in the big leagues. It\u2019s an encouraging trend as the Cubs look to avoid falling into the weekslong slump that has derailed their last two seasons.<\/p>\n

\"Michael
Cubs first baseman Michael Busch watches his two-run home run during the fourth inning against the Padres on April 14, 2025, in San Diego. (Denis Poroy\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For as strong of a start Busch has gotten off to, the Cubs have largely platooned him at first base. Entering Friday, Busch had only seven plate appearances against lefties with one hit \u2014 a double \u2014 one walk and three strikeouts. Hoyer said it\u2019s not an ability-related decision, that the Cubs \u201cdefinitely\u201d believe Busch can hit lefties. The reason is more big-picture focused after bringing in veteran Justin Turner.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiving Justin days to play, I think that if we\u2019re going to expect Justin to take a big at-bat in the eighth inning we need him to be playing and ready to go,\u201d Hoyer said. \u201cThe more we can give guys good matchups and where we can rest guys then the better they\u2019ll be later on.\u201d<\/p>\n

The exciting part for the Cubs is that Busch is still coming into his own at the big-league level and has room to improve, especially as he looks to be more consistent in limiting the slumps, often one of the hardest challenges for a hitter. Getting to watch Tucker, whose career-high 19-game on-base streak ended Wednesday, and the consistency within each at-bat is something Busch knows he can learn from.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo matter the situation, no matter whether it\u2019s his fourth at-bat, no matter if he had four hits, zero hits, just the consistency of the at-bat and getting guys in the zone and swinging at good pitches and getting a good swing off, all those things \u2014 there\u2019s a reason he\u2019s a really good, gifted hitter, Busch said. \u201cBut he also is top of the line because of the little things that he does really well that sometimes I think might go overlooked.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got a God-given ability to do this, but to do it at the level that he\u2019s doing it at it takes simplicity but also being very aware of your swing and he does the little things really well.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Chicago Cubs first baseman Michael Busch gets on a roll, it tends to be at a level that can carry the offense.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":49234,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[282,624,825,317,1600,592],"class_list":["post-49233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-jed-hoyer","tag-justin-turner","tag-kyle-tucker","tag-michael-busch","tag-seiya-suzuki"],"yoast_head":"\nMichael Busch heats up for a Chicago Cubs offense looking to stay on a roll: \u2018He\u2019s making such good decisions\u2019 - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=49233\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Michael Busch heats up for a Chicago Cubs offense looking to stay on a roll: \u2018He\u2019s making such good decisions\u2019 - 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