{"id":67385,"date":"2024-02-28T10:00:29","date_gmt":"2024-02-28T15:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=67385"},"modified":"2024-02-28T00:50:42","modified_gmt":"2024-02-28T05:50:42","slug":"busch-different-spot-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/02\/28\/busch-different-spot-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Busch to Find Work at Different Spot in 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As Spring Training has started, the Cubs are ready to utilize a new piece in a different spot in 2024. The organization acquired left-handed hitting infielder <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/buschmi02.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.baseball-reference.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-27_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Michael Busch <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/01\/11\/cubs-acquire-busch-almonte\/\" target=\"_self\">from the Dodgers back in January.<\/a> The hope in acquiring Busch was that the club could provide him with everyday opportunities. Busch had been noted to play second and third base in the Dodger system. Third base didn\u2019t seem like an issue when Chicago initially acquired him, but that has since changed. After manager Craig Counsell said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/morelch01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.baseball-reference.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-27_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Christopher Morel<\/a> would <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/02\/22\/christopher-morel-cubs-third-base\/\" target=\"_self\">get consistent reps at third<\/a>, Busch was left out of a position.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>The Other Corner\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even with the Cody Bellinger <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bellico01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.baseball-reference.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-27_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cody Bellinger<\/a> signing, it has been made clear that the Cubs want to rotate Busch in at first base when the team faces right-handers this season.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Out of the 27 games that Busch played in 2023, only four came at first base. While that doesn\u2019t sound promising, it does help that first base is one of the easier positions to pick up in baseball. Just don\u2019t ask Ron Washington his thoughts on the manner (wink wink, Moneyball).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Michael Busch and Patrick Wisdom got some infield work in on Field 1 today. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/A23SV60c9r\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/A23SV60c9r<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Andy Mart\u00ednez (@amartinez_11) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/amartinez_11\/status\/1759646372847059392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">February 19, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The organization has also consistently worked with Busch over the other side of the diamond throughout camp. He has been taking reps with the regulars in this spot, which shows how much the Cubs want him in the lineup to some capacity moving forward. They wouldn\u2019t have given up a top-10 prospect in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=ferris003jac&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.baseball-reference.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-27_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jackson Ferris<\/a> if they didn\u2019t think of multiple places to put Busch in the field. Having the DH in today\u2019s game is also a nice luxury, especially if Busch is consistently crushing righties. In a hypothetical world, Counsell can play <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/crowape01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.baseball-reference.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-27_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pete Crow-Armstrong<\/a>, Bellinger, and Busch all at once if all is going well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Long Term Outlook\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If Busch can prove why he was a first-round pick in 2019, then none of this defensive stuff matters. Unfortunately, he hasn\u2019t had the best go at the dish in his short stints in the show. In his multiple trips back and forth last season, Busch hit just .167. This came in 72 at-bats across the aforementioned 27 contests. The former UNC Tar Heel clubbed two homers and slugged just .292 amid these struggles.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p>&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Michael Busch taking BP. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/fLthQzXRgT\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/fLthQzXRgT<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 CHGO Cubs (@CHGO_Cubs) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CHGO_Cubs\/status\/1762165381148643761?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">February 26, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Other contributors at this different spot that Busch could run into this season include Bellinger, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mervima01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.baseball-reference.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-27_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Matt Mervis<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/w\/wisdopa01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.baseball-reference.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-27_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Patrick Wisdom<\/a>, and the newly signed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=coopega03,cooper007gar&amp;search=Garrett+Cooper&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.baseball-reference.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-27_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Garrett Cooper<\/a>. It\u2019s known that Bellinger will work in the center field and will spend some time in the DH spot after being brought back. Plus, Bellinger can now hit lefties, too, so there will be no competition there for Busch, with him currently not in the fold when southpaws toe the rubber. Cooper and Wisdom might be fighting for a roster spot, and there is a realistic chance that only one will be around to battle with Busch for playing time. It also helps that both struggle against righties and specialize lefties, therefore not standing as a threat to Busch.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Opportunities will be around for Busch in 2024. The Cubs didn\u2019t get him for free; there are loopholes around his potential competitors&#8217; playing time. The only thing that stands in his way of earning regular at-bats is his consistency at the dish.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credits: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As Spring Training has started, the Cubs are ready to utilize a new piece in a different spot in 2024. The organization acquired left-handed hitting infielder Michael Busch from the Dodgers back in January. The hope in acquiring Busch was that the club could provide him with everyday opportunities. Busch had been noted to play [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5007,"featured_media":67402,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[68,69,645],"class_list":["post-67385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cubs","tag-baseball","tag-mlb","tag-nl-central"],"modified_by":"Evan Mazza, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5007"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}