Forget Speed: Busch brings thunder to the top of the Cubs lineup |
Baseball is a game of adjustments, and that has never been more evident in the last ten years or so. Traditionally, your best hitter would hit third in the lineup to give him plenty of opportunities to drive runners in. The top of the lineup would be filled with players who had contact skills to go with their speed so that they could cause havoc on the basepaths. This strategy seemed to change when Atlanta started putting their superstar, Ronald Acuna Jr., in the leadoff spot to blend his power and speed elements and provide more at-bats per game. The Angels and now the Dodgers usually bat Shohei Ohtani at the top with his power and on-base percentage. The Chicago Cubs can now be added to that list with their leadoff hitter, Michael Busch.
Busch is not a speed demon and is unlikely to cause much havoc on the basepaths. What he brings to the top of the Cubs lineup is his .289 batting average, which is first on the team, 20 home runs, and a team-leading OPS of .926. Manager Craig Counsell has employed Ian Happ at leadoff against left-handed pitchers and now employs Busch at the top against right-handers. This strategy seems to be paying off, as the Cubs are now tied for the best record in baseball at 59-40 with the Detroit Tigers and division foe Milwaukee Brewers, who are on a ten-game winning streak as of this writing. Michael Busch is not a hitter who likes to work the count and see what a pitcher has to offer; he is more of a hitter who sees a pitch he likes and swings at it. His batting philosophy has worked even better for him this year than his productive first season in Chicago. The opportunity to go up 1-0 in the first inning with one swing is a nice luxury that not all teams can employ. Craig Counsell will always hire a mix-and-match strategy when it comes to his lineups, probably more than most managers in MLB. This has helped him win a lot of games in Milwaukee and is now showing the same results here in Chicago. He seems to know the fact that if you don’t adjust and adapt from each game to the next, you will not only lose some games you could have won, but also could find yourself looking for another job once you are relieved of your duties. Wrigley Field is unique in the fact that, unlike most ballparks, it actually plays a significant role in the outcome of games. When the wind is blowing in you know that your gonna need to move runners over and play some small ball during that game. When the wind is blowing out, it’s a whole new ballgame, and you’ve got to prepare a pitching staff to not cave when a home run is hit out that on most days would not have happened on any other day. Michael Busch is a testament to this philosophy of constantly evolving and adapting to what the game gives you. With the Cubs tied for first place right now and a lot of the season left, here's to hoping that the changes keep coming and lead to even more wins.
