Where Will Michael Busch Play While Up With the Dodgers?
Dodgers rookie Michael Busch made his MLB debut on Tuesday at PNC Park against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He went 1-for-3 with an RBI single and a walk, showing out in front of 32 friends and family members in the stands.
He was slotted in as the team's designated hitter on Tuesday, as Dodgers manager Dave Roberts wanted him to just focus on his bat. However, in his second career start on Wednesday, he's slated in as the team's third baseman.
Busch has experience at third base, second base, first base and left field in his minor league career, however, he's not exactly a great defender anywhere. But still, for however long he's up in the major leagues, he's going to play — and Roberts spoke about where he could see him playing during this stint with the Dodgers.
"For Michael, I feel really good about third, second, and then first. He’s played a lot of second, obviously. I think he can play first in his sleep. And recently the player development guys gave him as much of runway as we could at third base and he’s taken very well to it."
As Busch is replacing Max Muncy on the roster — who's on paternity leave — he's filling in at third base for now. The Dodgers seem very confident about Miguel Vargas being the full-time second baseman, so it doesn't sound like Busch will get an opportunity to play there. And as for first base, I don't see Freddie Freeman losing that spot anytime soon.
So, it sounds like Busch is going to be at third while he's with the team. If he goes back down when Muncy returns, it'll be a pretty simple switch. However, if he stays up a little bit longer, he could find an opportunity at second to get Vargas a day off.
Hopefully Busch remains up past Muncy's return, as I think he deserves a bit of a longer shot. However, the Dodgers are loaded with talent, so we'll see how long he's able to stay with the Dodgers for this stint. But either way, he'll be back very soon, as, like Roberts said, he's earned this opportunity at the big league level.
