Michael Busch does things that we rarely seen from a Cubs First Baseman

The Chicago Cubs have a rich history of great first basema that play on Wrigley Field by The Legendary Cap Anson, who still lists the franchise in hits, runs, doubles, RBI and war in his later years in hits, runs, Doubles, RBI and was. It took a minute for the team to find a successor to their last great player in this position, the captain of the cursing team 2016, Anthony Rizzo, but Michael Busch now plays this role admirable. His performance in the first half this year is not only impressive, but also some of the best seasons that the biggest slugers of the Cubs first organized.

In 90 games and 340 record appearances, Busch has a 160 WRC+ with a slash of 0.290/.375/.550. In a full season, that would be among all Cubs First Basemen, which only two seasons from Anshern, Phil Cavarretta's wonderful 1945 MVP season, and Derrek Lees Monströser 170 WRC+ campaign 2005, Rizzo's ONLY season that comes particularly close to the monstring of Rizzo, which comes particularly close to it in years 2014 corresponds to a 155-WRC+ season in which they were achieved 527. When he looked at the first half, only Lee was a better pace in 2005 and Rizzo in 2015 and 2016.

Perhaps the biggest changes for Busch from his rookie excursion were now an increase in sip (0.440 in 2024) and to a noted decline in the strike percentage (28.6% to 22.6%). In the first statistics, its current season also occupied the fifth of all time and was only exceeded by Lee von Lee in 1922. Only a few in the history of Cubs can match the general crime and bring the left with its bat.

Let's go one step further. There was a lot about Busch's fights to meet left -handed people and how the Cubs protect him against southern paws. Well, there is a good reason for this because the first basemen in the team history with available splits lead a land mile in WRC+ against right -handed people. The only dough at the spitting distance of its 179 WRC+ brand was Lee in 2005 with 167 against Righties. Admittedly, Busch has far fewer records, but it underlines the absurd pace at which he was so far.

Michael Busch was more than worth trading for the Cubs

The Cubs took a bit of a risk of trading with Busch and Yency Almonte from the Dodgers in 2024. The move cost them one of her most promising young pitching prospects in Jackson Ferris. Since then, Zyhir Hope, originally the secondary piece of the deal, has also exploded by MLB Pipeline to number 36 in baseball, which led to radiation about the team's ability to assess their own talent.

Despite his top potent, Busch only hit .167/.247/.292 with a 47 WRC+ in his 81 record appearances in Los Angeles. But no different than Rizzo in front of him was a change in the landscape and more runway to prove himself, transformative. It is difficult to feel bad as this deal turned out when he has one .256/.342/.465/126 WRC+ for his career. In conjunction with a strong glove that has recorded two previously rescued defensive runs, and some real changes to his game, which have contributed to his success, there is reason to assume that his best days are still in front of him. And he is still under control until 2030.

What the 27-year-old Lefty did is almost incredible and a big reason why the cubs were so successful. His conversion into a superstar hitter together with Kyle Tucker, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Seiya Suzuki gave the team a fearsome center of the order that fans have been waiting for. Again, like Rizzo in front of him, Busch will be the focus of the long-related next large Cubs team in the coming years.