Chicago Cubs Underrated Slugger Living Up to Potential in Fearsome Lineup

Much has been made about the Chicago Cubs' phenomenal offensive start to the season, but this slugger is living up to his potential.

Apr 13, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Chicago Cubs first base Michael Busch (29) watches after hitting a solo home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the sixth inning during the sixth inning of the game at Dodger Stadium. | Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

In January of 2024, the Chicago Cubs made a trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers that saw them acquire top prospect Michael Busch for a pair of minor leaguers.

Busch was blocked from playing time with the Dodgers due to the presence of Shohei Ohtani as the designated hitter and Freddie Freeman entrenched at first base.

It was a shrewd move from president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer to leverage the Dodgers' outstanding roster against them to acquire a high-upside left-handed bat.

Busch, who was selected with the No. 31 overall pick in the 2019 MLB draft out of the University of North Carolina, was the No. 2 prospect in Los Angeles' farm system at the time and No. 44 in the MLB Pipeline Top 100.

The move to Chicago represented a massive chance for him to get real playing time and make good on the potential that his draft positioning and prospect ranking suggested was there.

The Minnesota native took full advantage of the opportunity, delivering a solid and respectable .248/.335/.440 slash line for the 2024 Cubs.

Given that he turned 27 right after the conclusion of the season, it did not necessarily seem like a leap to stardom was on the horizon for Busch, but even if he spent the rest of his career producing like that, it would have been a great trade for Chicago.

So far in 2025, however, the former Tar Heel and Dodger is looking like he could be the star first baseman that the Cubs have lacked since they sent Anthony Rizzo to the New York Yankees in 2021.

Even as breakout catcher Carson Kelly and superstar offseason acquisition Kyle Tucker lead Chicago in most offensive categories, Busch's own breakout is worth its own fair share of notoriety.

He's currently slashing .316/.381/.668 to go with five homers, 13 RBI and a stolen base.

Busch sits fifth among all MLB first basemen with a wRC+ of 179, and he is doing that with plenty of room for improvement in both his walk rate (6%) and strikeout rate (23.8%).

That means when he's putting the ball in play, he's absolutely demolishing it. That's borne out by his Statcast data, as he ranks in the 87th percentile in launch angle sweet spot rate, the 76th percentile in xwOBA, and the 79th in xSLG.

If Busch can continue to provide another high-level left-handed bat behind Tucker to join strong righties like Seiya Suzuki, Dansby Swanson and Kelly, this lineup will continue to be a nightmare for opposing pitchers.