Long before Michael Busch was the NL Player of the Week, his family knew he was destined for a future in baseball.

That’s because Busch played up on the varsity baseball team — as an eighth grader.

Busch was a three-sport star at Simley High School in Inver Grove Heights, Minn., just outside Minneapolis-St. Paul. But baseball was where he truly starred and his dad, Mike, told Marquee Sports Network’s Taylor McGregor he knew his son would have a future on the diamond as an eighth grader.

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Playing up on the varsity baseball team also allowed Busch time to share the field with his older brother, Logan.

And even then, Busch set a high standard for himself.

“I don’t know if it did much for me in that sense of life,” Busch said in an exclusive interview with McGregor. “I was a little naive to it. I just wanted to play. And it sounded really cool to play with my brother, ’cause he was a junior in high school.

“Able to play with the older guys, I always played a year older just because my dad put me in baseball early. So I always played with older kids, but I think just playing with my brother was really cool. And then the competitive aspect of things, always wanting to do well, always wanting to perform — no matter where I was, what I was doing.

“I was an eighth grader and struggled, but could sit there and be like, ‘I’m an eighth grader, it’s OK to struggle,’ but I was a little upset that I wasn’t doing super well. That’s just kinda been my whole life. But it’s a good thing for me — it pushes me and keeps me motivated and keeps me going.”

The experience playing on the same team with Logan was something Busch felt like changed his life. They had a friendly competition on the field, but they really formed a close bond in those years.

“He stopped picking on me as much and we started to become best friends,” Busch told McGregor. “That was really cool to share a field with him for quite a few years.”

Busch had a strong first full big-league season with the Cubs last year, but he has taken his game to another level this year.

The 27-year-old had a convincing case to make the NL All-Star team, but was ultimately left off the roster. He entered play Wednesday hitting .297/.382/.562 (.944 OPS) with 18 homers, 56 RBI and 44 runs scored.

Check out the full interview with Busch exclusively on the Marquee Sports Network app.