No, Michael Busch Can't, Won't, and Shouldn't Move to Third Base—Or Second, Either

[Matthew Trueblood]

Stop trying to make 'fetch' happen. It is not going to happen.

Image courtesy of © Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

 

It's not wholly incomprehensible. A couple days after having acquired Kyle Tucker—without giving up Seiya Suzuki!—the Cubs still have not traded Cody Bellinger, and some fans (not indefensible) are trying to daydream a little. They want to have their cake and eat it, too. They're imagining a lineup the Cubs could deploy on a daily basis, against right-handed pitchers, if they simply hold onto Bellinger, accept the looming luxury-tax bill, and slide Michael Busch to the place vacated when the team traded third baseman Isaac Paredes as part of the Tucker trade.

1. Ian Happ - LF
2. Kyle Tucker - RF
3. Seiya Suzuki - DH
4. Cody Bellinger - 1B
5. Dansby Swanson - SS
6. Michael Busch - 3B
7. Nico Hoerner - 2B
8. Pete Crow-Armstrong - CF
9. Miguel Amaya - C

You have to admit, that does look like an awfully good lineup. Most fictional lineups do. Why would you bother drawing up a back-of-the-napkin lineup that didn't look really good?

Ok, now take that napkin, wipe up whatever mess might be at hand, and throw it away. Because that lineup will never, ever happen. As it turns out, the world is not so easily bent to our whims and wants. The Cubs are as smart as you are. They've seen this possibility, and they've rejected it, because it's not really a possibility.

Michael Busch is a solid player. He's coming off a really strong, encouraging, even exciting rookie season, during which he posted a 117 DRC+ (17% better than a league-average hitter), making excellent adjustments at the plate en route to delivering both power and plate discipline. He also blossomed as a first baseman. Early in the season, he was hard-handed and unsure of his footwork, despite having been a collegiate first baseman. It took two months for him to fully acclimate to his defensive duties. Over the second half, though, he might have been the National League's best defender at the position. At the very least, we can say that he was noticeably better than average with the leather.

Because of his size and his athleticism (each of which are, loosely speaking, befitting a player at some spot other than first base), the temptation to try moving him back to second or third base (where he played more often in the minor leagues while part of the Dodgers organization) is understandable. It's just misgiven. Busch's improvements at first this year made it look like he might have upside at another position, but in truth, he doesn't.

Busch has a weak arm. He's not as quick as he looks, and his size limits his range on reaching or diving plays. The Cubs like him a lot; they just don't like him at all at any position other than first base. They made that clear when they acquired him last winter, and they haven't wavered on it. Nor did the ill-fated experiment of trying to make Christopher Morel a third baseman last spring leave a good taste in their mouth for this kind of attempted glow-up.

That's not to say that the Cubs won't attempt position changes for some players, even if it occasionally means sending a player back to a previously abandoned position or otherwise sliding them up the defensive spectrum, against the prevailing direction of such movements. It's one way to create value on a roster, and it's been fruitful for a number of teams recently. Mookie Betts is, suddenly, a middle infielder. Several teams are moving relievers back to the starting rotation, having identified them as possessing a deep enough pitch mix and some durability. The Padres moved Jake Cronenworth to first base almost full-time in 2023, but he was back to playing a lot of second base in 2024. In general, it's a good idea to consider moves like these.

In this case, though, it's an idea worth forgetting. Busch just isn't up to it. He's not a Cronenworth-caliber versatile athlete. He's not a Betts-caliber super-freak. He's a good player. It will be best for everyone involved if fans stop making the perfect the enemy of that goodness. 

The Cubs are going to trade Bellinger, anyway (to the Yankees? For Will Warren? I still feel fairly confident that gets done.). They would do so even if they thought Busch could play another position, in all likelihood. They want to manage and massage their budget, and they want to spend the remaining money they do have mostly on pitching. I would guess they'll also sign either a lower-tier infielder (think Yoán Moncada or Josh Rojas) or an outfielder who can more credibly back up Crow-Armstrong in center (think Harrison Bader or Michael A. Taylor), but they intend to direct most of their resources to the pitching staff. There's also Matt Shaw to think of; the team views making more room for Shaw as an ancillary benefit of the Tucker trade.

Busch is a solid player, and although the team might eventually look to plug a right-handed slugger in occasionally against lefty starters, he's not in danger of losing his deep foothold in the lineup. He could bat anywhere from first to seventh, on a given day, but he's going to be a big contributor to the 2025 Cubs. It just can't, won't, and shouldn't be anywhere on the infield, other than first base.

 

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