Cubs' Michael Busch: Launches 12th home run Saturday
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Busch went 1-for-4 with a walk, a solo home run and an additional run scored in Saturday's 6-2 win over the Twins.
Busch also struck out three times Saturday, but fantasy managers will surely take the power production, as he's now up to 12 home runs and 51 RBI through 97 games. The Chicago first baseman is riding a modest four-game hitting streak, which has helped push his overall slash line up to .239/.367/.400. The batting average and slugging percentage are down from Busch's breakout 2025 regular season, though his current on-base percentage would represent a career best.
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Cubs' Michael Busch: Doubles twice in win
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Busch went 2-for-4 with two doubles, an RBI and a run scored in Sunday's 8-4 win over the Reds.
Busch laced his 16th and 17th doubles of the season to help lead Chicago to victory, and he hit them both against southpaw Andrew Abbott to boot. The first baseman goes into the break with five hits across his last two games, but it's mostly been an underwhelming first half following his breakout 2025. Busch has a .763 OPS, 11 home runs and 49 RBI across 95 contests so far this year. In 2025, he finished with an .866 OPS, 34 homers and 90 RBI in 155 regular-season games.
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Cubs' Michael Busch: Up-and-down doubleheader effort
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Busch went 1-for-8 with a walk and a two-run home run across both games of Wednesday's doubleheader against the Mets.
Busch started the day by going 1-for-3 with his ninth home run of the season, but he couldn't sustain the effort in the nightcap, when we went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts. It's kind of a microcosm of the first baseman's year, as he's shown signs of breaking out but has yet to truly match his production from last year. Busch's OPS is currently down exactly 100 points from the .866 mark he posted during the 2025 regular season.
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Cubs' Michael Busch: Steals home Saturday
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Busch went 1-for-3 with a double, two walks, one RBI, one stolen base and one run scored in Saturday's 6-1 win over the Giants.
Ian Happ's steal in the third inning was poorly defended by the Giants, giving Busch plenty of time to swipe home. Busch has hit safely in seven straight games, going 9-for-26 (.346) with three extra-base hits and six RBI in that span. Overall, he's batting .253 with eight home runs, two steals, 42 RBI, 31 runs scored, 13 doubles and two triples over 70 games this season.
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Cubs' Michael Busch: Goes yard in win
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Busch went 1-for-3 with a three-run home run and a walk in Friday's 5-1 win over the Giants.
Busch went deep off Erik Miller after Giants starter Landen Roupp left two runners in scoring position. This was Busch's second homer over his last four games. He has hit safely in 16 of his last 18 contests, going 22-for-67 (.328) in that span. On the season, the first baseman is batting .252 with a .787 OPS, eight homers, 41 RBI, 30 runs scored, 12 doubles, two triples and a stolen base through 69 games. Busch hasn't been close to matching his power from last year's 34-homer performance in the regular season, but he's starting to come around.
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Cubs' Michael Busch: Homers in loss
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Busch went 1-for-3 with a walk and a solo home run in Tuesday's 7-3 loss to the Rockies.
Busch enjoyed the thin air at Coors Field as he lifted his seventh home run of the season in the sixth inning. The Chicago first baseman has been good lately with a .342 batting average, the one long ball and six RBI across his last 10 games. Overall, Busch is now sporting a .773 OPS and has 37 RBI across 66 contests this year, which is a step back from his 2025 production level but still plenty useful.
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Cubs' Michael Busch: Tallies three hits in loss
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Busch went 3-for-5 with a run scored and two RBI in Friday's 6-5 loss to the Cardinals.
Busch has at least one hit in five of his last six games, and during that time, he's slashing .348/.500/.609 with two home runs and six RBI. Overall, the first baseman has a more subdued .238/.372/.388 slash line, but he's been trending in the right direction recently after a slow start to the season. Busch should also continue to see ample playing time as the Cubs don't have a natural replacement for him at first on their roster.
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Cubs' Michael Busch: Blasts off again Monday
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Busch went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Monday's 2-1 loss to the Pirates.
Busch homered for the second straight day but got no support around him as the Cubs dropped their ninth straight contest. The first baseman had been struggling recently too with a .176 batting average in his last 10 games before Sunday, but he's bounced back by going 3-for-8 with those two long balls over the last two days. On the season, Busch now has six home runs and 30 RBI in 53 games.
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Cubs' Michael Busch: Goes deep against Houston
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Busch went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run and a walk during the Cubs' 8-5 loss to the Astros on Sunday.
Busch entered Sunday's game having one 0-for-13 with five strikeouts over his last four games, but he broke out of that slump in a big way with a two-run homer in the seventh inning to reduce the Cubs' deficit to 7-5. It was the fifth home run of the season for Busch, though he's well behind pace to match the 34 homers that he logged in the 2025 regular season. He is slashing .230/.360/.380 with one steal, 29 RBI and 21 runs scored across 228 plate appearances this season.
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Cubs' Michael Busch: Extends on-base streak
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Busch went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and a walk during the Cubs' 4-1 loss to Atlanta on Wednesday.
It looked like Busch's 13-game on-base streak was coming to an end Wednesday, but he managed to extend it after drawing a walk in the ninth inning. During his on-base streak, Busch has gone 13-for-44 (.295) with one steal, one home run, 12 RBI and a 15:12 BB:K.
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Cubs' Michael Busch: Drives in three more Friday
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Busch went 1-for-3 with a three-run double, two walks, one stolen base and a run scored in Friday's 7-1 win over the Rangers.
Busch walked and stole his first base of the season in the sixth inning before hitting a bases-clearing, three-run double in the seventh to break the game open. After Busch got off to a really slow start over the first month of the season, he's been swinging a hot bat in May. In eight games this month, Busch is 11-for-27 with four doubles, a triple, a homer, 12 RBI, three runs scored and eight walks. He's raised his slash line to .234/.345/.369 with three homers, 23 RBI, 17 runs scored, one stolen base and a 23:36 BB:K across 168 plate appearances this season.
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Cubs' Michael Busch: Launches first home run
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Busch went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 7-2 win over the Phillies.
Busch has been off to a slow start to the season, as Wednesday's home run was his first of the year, and he's only batting .188 with a .525 OPS. Busch's struggles combined with the strong play of Nico Hoerner has allowed the latter to take over as Chicago's primary leadoff hitter. Busch can still produce from lower in the lineup, but the first baseman will need to keep producing like he did Wednesday to avoid hitting the bench on a more regular basis, particularly against lefties.
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Cubs' Michael Busch: Receiving first day off
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Busch is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Pirates.
Matt Shaw will step in at first base in place of Busch, who will hit the bench after 14 consecutive starts to open the season. Though the Cubs often shielded him from left-handed pitching over the previous two seasons, Busch is expected to continue starting against southpaws more often than not in 2026. His move to the bench comes while Busch has been mired in an 0-for-30 slump at the dish that has dropped his season average to .118.
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Cubs' Michael Busch: Not expected to be platooned
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Cubs manager Craig Counsell suggested Saturday that Busch won't be deployed in a platoon to open the season and has earned the right to play regularly versus left-handed pitchers, Patrick Mooney of The Athletic reports.
Busch is coming off a breakthrough 2025 campaign in which he slashed .261/.343/.523 with 34 home runs, but the left-handed-hitting first baseman was largely shielded from same-handed pitching and did the overwhelming share of his damage versus righties, whom he faced for 497 of his 592 regular-season plate appearances. The Cubs signed the right-handed-hitting Tyler Austin this winter with the intention of having him fill the short side of a platoon, but with Austin now set to miss multiple months after recently undergoing a knee procedure, Counsell appears content to give Busch a full run of at-bats at first base. While the added exposure to lefties could lead to a drop in his batting average, Busch could increase his output in the counting categories due to the higher overall volume of plate appearances.
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Cubs' Michael Busch: Smacks fourth homer of postseason
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Busch went 1-for-4 with a walk and a solo home run in Thursday's win over the Brewers in Game 4 of the National League Division Series.
Busch put the game away with his left-on-left homer off Robert Gasser in the eighth inning, which pushed Busch's playoff OPS to 1.162. His four homers this postseason lead the majors -- one more than Vladimir Guerrero and Teoscar Hernandez. It's still possible Busch starts Game 5 on the bench if the Brewers go with a lefty opener, but he should enter as soon as a right-hander takes the mound for the opposition.
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Cubs' Michael Busch: Pops first postseason homer
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Busch went 3-for-4 with a solo home run in Thursday's wild-card win over the Padres.
Busch gave the Cubs an insurance run with his home run to lead off the seventh inning. It marked the first postseason home run of his career. Busch went 4-for-10 in the three-game series against the Padres.
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Cubs' Michael Busch: Launches another home run Friday
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Busch went 2-for-3 with a walk, a double, a home run, an additional run scored and two RBI in Friday's 12-1 win over the Cardinals.
Busch was one of four Chicago players to go deep as the Cubs routed their rivals from St. Louis. The powerful first baseman has homered six times in his last 13 games, upping his season total to 32 long balls. Busch has tacked on an .844 OPS and 86 RBI in what's been an impressive offensive campaign for the 27-year-old.
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Cubs' Michael Busch: Blasts 31st home run Tuesday
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Busch went 2-for-4 with a walk, a two-run home run and an additional run scored in Wednesday's 10-3 win over the Mets.
Busch has been on a power surge with five home runs across his last 11 games, pushing him to a career-high 31 long balls for the season. The left-handed slugger continues to do most of his damage against righties, as he's sporting an .875 OPS and has hit 27 of his homers in those matchups, though Wednesday's shot came against New York southpaw Sean Manaea.
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Cubs' Michael Busch: Goes deep again in three-hit game
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Busch went 3-for-4 with a walk, a solo home run, two doubles and an additional run scored in Tuesday's 4-1 win over the Pirates.
Busch took Pittsburgh ace Paul Skenes deep to lead off the game, and he added two doubles to round out an excellent fantasy performance. The Chicago first baseman has now homered in consecutive games and three times in his last four contests. He's up to 29 long balls for the season, which is a new career best and tied for the team lead with Pete Crow-Armstrong.
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Cubs' Michael Busch: Launches 28th home run Monday
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Busch went 1-for-5 with a solo home run in Monday's 4-0 win over the Pirates.
Busch is now riding a five-game hitting streak, and he's gone deep twice during the stretch. The Chicago first baseman has already set a new career high with 28 long balls this season. Busch has also tallied a career-best 79 RBI, and he's established himself as a reliable leadoff hitter against righties, as he's sporting a .267/.346/.517 slash line in those matchups.
