Michael Busch

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Michael James Busch

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Biographical Information[edit]

First baseman Michael Busch was the 1st-round selection by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2019 amateur draft, with the 31st overall pick, out of the University of North Carolina. It was the Dodgers' second pick of the first round, and came as compensation for having failed to sign P J.T. Ginn the year before (3B Kody Hoese had been selected before him with the 25th pick). His sophomore year with the Tar Heels, he was considered one of the top college first basemen in the country, batting .317 with 13 homers and 63 RBIs, then almost reproduces those numbers as a junior, with a .284 average, 16 homers and 57 RBIs. He played in the 2018 College World Series, further raising his profile. He is not originally from the state however, having been born and raised in Minnesota, where he went to high school.

He began his professional career in 2019 with the AZL Dodgers Lasorda and then moving up to the Great Lakes Loons, with 5 games for each team. He went just 3 for 24, but it was such a small sample that it was essentially meaningless. He then played another 5 games in the Arizona Fall League. After being forced into inactivity by the Coronavirus pandemic in 2020, he finally got an extended run in professional ball in 2021, with the Tulsa Drillers of the Double-A Central. He played 107 games with excellent results, with a line of .267/.386/.484, with 27 doubles and 20 homers, 70 walks, 84 walks and 67 RBIs. He was selected to play in the 2021 Futures Game. Interestingly, the Dodgers had him play mostly at second base that season, giving him a profile similar to that of their starting first baseman at the major league level, Max Muncy, who could also play the keystone position. He then split the 2022 season between Tulsa and the AAA Oklahoma City Dodgers, putting up a combined line of .274/.365/.516 in 142 games, with 32 homers and 108 RBIs.

He made his debut with the Dodgers on April 25, 2023, starting at DH against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He went 1 for 3 with a walk, a run and an RBI in an 8-7 win. He was sent back to the minors on May 9th after hitting .211 in 7 games, came back for a couple of weeks in June, and again at the end of August. It was on August 24th that he hit his first big league homer. It came against Gavin Williams of the Cleveland Guardians in a 9-3 win as he was filling in for injured DH J.D. Martinez. Overall, he appeared in 27 games that year, hitting .167 with 2 homers and 7 RBIs. In the minors, he hit .323 in 98 games for Oklahoma City, with 27 homers and 90 RBIs. In the minors, however, ha was the Player of the Year in the Pacific Coast League with Oklahoma City, where he hit .323 in 98 games, with 26 doubles, 24 homers, 85 runs and 90 RBIs.

There was little doubt that Busch was ready for the majors at that point, but the Dodgers did not really have a spot for him, especially after signing free agent DH Shohei Ohtani. On January 11, 2024, he was traded to the Chicago Cubs along with P Yency Almonte in return for two minor leaguers, Jackson Ferris and Zyhir Hope. He started the season as the Cubs' regular first baseman and from April 10-15, he homered in five consecutive games, tying a club record, joining four others, including teammate Christopher Morel who had done so the previous season. He played 152 games as the team's regular first baseman, finishing at .248 with 28 doubles, 21 homers, 73 runs and 65 RBIs. His OPS+ was 118 and he was named to the 2024 MLB All-Rookie Team. On March 31, 2025, he had the honor of being the first player to hit a home run in the new temporary home of the Athletics, Sutter Health Park in Sacramento, CA. The long ball came off Joey Estes in the 1st inning of the first game played there, and was immediately followed by another one by Dansby Swanson as the Cubs went on to an 18-3 win; he went 3 for 6 with 4 RBIs in the game. On July 4th, he had the first three-homer game of his career - and the first by a Cubs first baseman since Ernie Banks in 1963 - when the team set a team record by hitting eight long balls in an 11-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field. He went back-to-back with catcher Carson Kelly in the 2nd and with Swanson in the 8th, as the Cubs did it three times in the game. On September 27th, facing the Cardinals again, he came to bat in the bottom of the 8th inning one hit shy of the cycle. It was not the usual triple that he was missing - he had hit that earlier in the game, along with a double and a pair of home runs - but a lowly single. However, the Cards elected to issue him an intentional walk, to the copious booing of the hometown crowd, but with a runner on third, first base open, and the game still not completely out of hand with Chicago up, 7-3, it was a defensible move. Even with that walk in his final plate appearance, it was still a great day for Michael, who finished with 2 runs and 4 RBIs while going 4 for 4.

He is not to be confused with an earlier Dodger player named Mike Busch.

Notable Achievements[edit]

Further Reading[edit]

  • Jordan Bastian: "Cubs get Top 100 prospect Busch, reliever Almonte in trade with Dodgers", mlb.com, January 13, 2024. [1]
  • Thomas Harrigan: "Why Busch may be Cubs' most important hitter entering 2026", mlb.com, December 31, 2025. [2]
  • Jeff Jones: "Marmol stands by IBB to Busch a single shy of cycle", mlb.com, September 27, 2025. [3]
  • Sarah Langs: "Busch going yard at Busch? Here are some quirky name-ballpark combos", mlb.com, May 24, 2024. [4]
  • Henry Palattella: "'Who are you?' Busch introduces himself with 1st MLB HR: Pepiot enjoys 2nd straight strong outing; Betts has huge series ahead of Boston return", mlb.com, August 24, 2023. [5]
  • Jared Wyllys: "Blasts in bunches: Cubs crush franchise-record 8 homers vs. Cardinals: Busch becomes 1st Cubs first baseman since Ernie Banks to have 3-HR game", mlb.com, July 4, 2025. [6]

Related Sites[edit]

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