Michael Busch

Busch was hit by a pitch in the second inning, then got on base with a single in the fourth before getting his revenge with a solo homer off Nick Lodolo in the sixth. The 28-year-old first baseman is hitting .239/.350/.397 with 20 homers and 77 RBI across 680 plate appearances. It’s his third straight 20-homer campaign, but a steep drop-off from his 34-homer season in 2025.

It was Busch’s 18th of the season, but it’s hard to ignore how cold he’s looked of late: He’s hitting .172 in his last 15 games and has just a .391 slugging percentage on the season. The underlying numbers aren’t quite awful, but his barrel rate of 9.0 percent is the lowest it’s been as a full-time starter. Sure would be nice for the Cubs if this game got him on a heater as they look to head to the postseason.

Busch has been fairly disappointing in hitting .239/.349/.391. It’s the final number there that’s the real problem; Busch hit 34 homers and slugged .523 in 592 plate appearances last season. This year, with his bat speed and his exit velocity numbers all down, he has 17 homers in 607 plate appearances.

Busch followed Pete Crow-Armstrong in the first inning with a solo homer off Bryan Hudson. He later drew a walk in the sixth. The 28-year-old first baseman is up to 15 homers and 64 RBI while hitting .244/.351/.389 across 561 plate appearances. His batted ball quality is down significantly from last season, making it difficult to follow up his 34-homer campaign. Though 2025 might’ve been the outlier, as his batted-ball metrics are more in line with his 2024 output.

Busch had been mired in a bit of a power outage lately, slashing just .253/.290/.316 with one homer, nine RBI and an 18/4 K/BB ratio over 100 plate appearances in his last 22 ballgames. He’ll get a day off to reset in this one with Pedro Ramirez filling in at first base and batting sixth against Cardinals’ right-hander Hunter Dobbins.

Busch spoiled Cade Cavalli’s no-hit bid with a two-out single in the seventh inning. That would be the only hit that the Cubs’ offense would get in the brutal offensive performance. For the season, the 28-year-old slugger is hitting .245/.353/.388 with 14 homers and 63 RBI in 544 plate appearances on the season.

Busch came back to haunt his former organization by tagging Justin Wrobleski for a solo shot in the fifth inning before adding a two-run single in the sixth. The 28-year-old first baseman is up to 14 homers on the year and should reach the 20-homer threshold for the third consecutive season.

Busch’s two-run single in the sixth inning capped off a five-run inning and extended the Cubs’ lead to 8-0 in a game Chicago would eventually win 11-0. He’s hitting .245 with a .766 OPS and 56 RBI this season.

Busch’s RBI single in the first inning wound up being the only run the Cubs would drive in on the night, as the other run that scored came via a wild pitch. Busch was one of just six Cubs to tally a hit in Friday’s loss and he has now hit safely in three-straight games.

Remember when Busch hit .193 with two home runs in 30 games in March and April? Since May 1st, Busch is hitting .279/.424/.467 with seven home runs, 18 runs scored, 33 RBI, and two steals in 48 games. He should be treated as the top 10 starting first baseman he was drafted to be before the season began.

The Giants brought in Erik Miller just to face Busch in the fifth, and the left-handed hitter responded with his second homer in 91 plate appearances against a southpaw this season. It was also the first homer Miller has ever allowed to a left-handed batter in the majors; they had hit .200/.318/.242 against him in 196 plate appearances.

Busch crushed a 424-foot shot off Tomoyuki Sugano in the sixth inning, but it came with the Cubs trailing 7-1. He’s now homered seven times in 2026, while the solo roundtripper gives him 37 RBI in 67 games. It’s the first homer of the month of June for Busch, but he has picked up hits in six of his seven contests in the month. Overall the production has been disappointing, but there’s reason for optimism over the final 90-plus games of the campaign.

Busch’s homer was a two-run blast off Erick Fedde in the first. The lefty first baseman has started all but two games for the Cubs this year, fully shedding last season’s platoon role. Busch hit second in all three contests versus the crosstown White Sox this weekend. However, the long ball was just his fourth of the season as he’s well off pace to match the 34 he connected for a season ago.

Busch homered to tie things up in the eighth and then delivered a game-winning single in the 10th. It elevates his line to .229/.331/.366 in 131 at-bats. Busch’s bat speed and exit velocity numbers have plummeted this year, and the Cubs might be better off turning him back into a platoon guy at some point. The production, though, has gotten better so far this month, and it seems worth sticking with him in shallow leagues.

Busch had a big day at the plate on Sunday, starting with a double and a run scored in the second inning. After drawing a walk in the third, he drove in three runs with a bases-loaded triple in the fifth. Busch would drive in a fourth run on a sacrifice fly in the seventh. The 28-year-old first baseman is hitting .218/.317/.339 with two homers, 15 runs scored, and 17 RBI across 145 plate appearances.

Busch opened scoring with a two-run single with the bases loaded to make it 2-0, then added a hard-hit double later on. Busch has been struggling this year, so this game at least gets him over the Mendoza line at .203/.301/.297. Fantasy managers in deeper leagues should stick with him for now, but his expected batting average of .204 is rough — he’s simply not barreling the ball enough yet.

Busch takes a seat for the second straight contest with Philadelphia ace Cristopher Sánchez toeing the rubber during Monday’s series opener. The 28-year-old first baseman has gotten off to an abysmal start, hitting .135 (7-for-52) with zero homers and three RBI through 15 games. Carson Kelly takes over at first base to open the game. It’s not quite time to panic, but Busch could be limited to facing righties almost exclusively until he gets back on track.

Busch has been slumping badly at the dish, slashing a woeful .118/.220/.157 with zero homers, two RBI and a 12/7 K/BB ratio through his first 59 plate appearances. Hopefully a day off to clear his head will do him some good. Matt Shaw will start in his place at first base and will bat ninth for the Cubs against Brayan Bello and the Red Sox on Sunday.

Neither of Busch’s first two hits were well struck, but the third was a sharp opposite-field liner. With the injured Tyler Austin no longer a threat, Busch figures to start against most lefties, adding to his fantasy value even if he’s dropped from the leadoff spot in those situations.

Counsell told reporters that Busch has “earned the right” to get a chance to face southpaws. While it’s possible the 28-year-old won’t handle them well, it does give him a chance to add more counting stats, which is always nice. Busch hit 34 homers with an .866 OPS in 2025, and similiar — if not better — production is feasible for the former first-round pick this summer.