You Have Never Seen a Cubs Rookie Like Michael Busch In Your Lifetime
Chicago Cubs rookie Michael Busch has hit a home run in four straight games and folks that has never been done, at least not since 1901. We’ve literally never seen a Cubs rookie do this in our lifetime.
The left-handed slugger crushed his fifth homer of the season in Sunday’s series finale against the Seattle Mariners and it ended up being the deciding factor in the Cubs’ 3-2 win.
The Cubs offense wasn’t really doing much against right-hander Luis Castillo, who had just struck out the side in the third inning. However, Dansby Swanson started the fourth inning with a double and then Busch absolutely demolished Castillo’s favorite pitch, a 2-2 change up, launching the ball 437 feet to right field that gave the Cubs a 3-0 lead.
Thanks to some great defense in the late innings and another strong start by Javier Assad, the Cubs were able to hang on and win 3-2 on Sunday, earning their first road series victory of the season.
Busch was one of only two Cubs players who had a good time facing Mariners’ pitching this past weekend as most of the lineup went cold in Seattle. Busch was 6-for-12 in the three-game series, with 3 home runs and 4 driven in. Suzuki was the other Cubs hitter who had a decent series, going 4-for-12, with a homer. Swanson was the only other Cub to record an extra base hit in Seattle, doubling in the fourth inning on Sunday that led to Busch’s two-run homer.
Busch and Suzuki combined to go 10-for-24 and everyone else was a jaw-dropping 8-for-73, a measly .110 batting average against Seattle.
Back to Busch, four straight games with a home run. Never been done by a Cubs rookie.
Busch is now slashing .327/.393/.694, and has a team-best 184 wRC+ among the Cubs qualified hitters through the first 17 games.
Now, I was being a little facetious with that tweet about Busch being the greatest rookie of our lifetime because in case you forgot Kris Bryant was a beast in 2015. KB had a 6.1 fWAR rookie year, slashing .275/.369/.488, with 26 home runs and a 136 wRC+. That is the best rookie season in Cubs history for a guy who started almost every game in their first year.
So, still a long ways to go for Busch to equal Bryant’s accolades, but so far, so good for the Cubs first baseman. You especially have to love that during this four-game home run streak, Busch has been able to drive the ball out of the ballpark on two-strike counts and he’s showing the ability to crush different pitches.
It’s not like Busch is only feasting on a middle-middle fastball or hanging breaking balls.
Busch is now up to five home runs on the season and while getting close to Bryant’s 6.1 fWAR rookie season may be difficult, the Cubs rookie home run record could very likely be broken this year. Patrick Wisdom hit 28 home runs in 2021, setting the new mark for Cubs rookies. Busch has a real shot to obliterate that and maybe flirt with 40 home runs?!?!
OK, OK, I’ll take a step back now and I’ll just enjoy this awesome start by Michael Busch.