The Chicago Cubs have a lot of offensive weapons in their arsenal and it seems like every few games a different player assumes temporary hero status.
Their ability to execute with both power and speed, along with the depth of versatility of the squad, makes them currently the best offensive team in baseball and it gives them a vibe of being virtually slump-proof.
Within this mass of Cubs hitting talent, there is the flashy and explosive Pete Crow-Armstrong, the steady elite talent of Kyle Tucker, and RBI co-leader Seiya Suzuki, among others.
So, given this very welcomed reality, it’s really easy to be overlooked.
Cubs first baseman Michael Busch appears to be one of those overlooked entities.
Overlooked Michael Busch, The Hardest-Hitting Chicago Cub?
The 27-year-old Busch is quietly putting together a solid season, hitting .266 with 8 home runs and 34 RBIs and on a pace to hit 25-27 home runs with over 100 runs driven in. His stats place him among the best first baseman in the league.
And believe it or not, he’s also quietly become the current hardest-hitting Cub.
According to Michael Cerami of Bleacher Nation, who recently crunched Fangraphs numbers, Busch has become the Cub generating the most hard contact over the last few weeks. He also rates quite well when stacked up against the league as a whole.
Per Cerami:
“Busch is slashing an impressive .266/.366/.486 (141 wRC+) with 8 homers, an 11.2% walk rate, and a 24.4% strikeout rate. By wRC+ alone, that would be the best season from a Cubs first baseman since Anthony Rizzo in 2016 (145 wRC+)…
But to the point, Busch’s batted ball data for the year is also looking very supportive of those excellent full-season numbers.
91.1 MPH exit velo. (t-54th in MLB)
14.2 barrel% (31st)
48 hard% (48th)But for almost a full month (I’m going back to May 9 because it’s convenient for me), Busch has been even better: .298/.403/.509 (156 wRC+), 11.9 BB%, 22.4 K%. And yet even those elevated results are arguably selling him short.
Just look at how often he is obliterating baseballs these last 3+ weeks:
94.5 MPH exit velo. (13th)
16.7 barrel% (28th)
66.7 hard% (1st in MLB!)”
Bigger Things To Come?
It really shouldn’t come as a surprise that Busch is doing well. His hard contact stats should, however, turn heads and give great optimism for even bigger offensive things to come.
“He’s making such good decisions at the plate, he gives himself a chance every at-bat and he’s looking to do damage, which I love,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer told media back in April, after Busch’s 8-for-19 West Coast road trip that saw him hit three home runs and drive in 6 runs. “He’s looking to drive the baseball, and I think that started to show up on the trip and hopefully keeps it going.”
And it looks like it’s still going.
Coming To The Cubs
Busch was acquired prior to the 2024 season when the Cubs traded two very well-regarded lower-level prospects– pitcher Jackson Ferris and outfielder Zyhir Hope– to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Busch and reliever Yency Almonte.
The left-handed hitting talent was also a well-regarded prospect at the time, but he was considered an infielder without any place to play on the loaded Dodgers major league squad. The Cubs pegged him as their first baseman of the future and rest is (ongoing) history.
So far, so good.
Add his continued offensive advancement to his very much overlooked defensive prowess and the future looks brighter than ever for Michael Busch.
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