Cubs slugger Michael Busch named NL Player of the Week amid hot stretch
Michael Busch has been so hot lately, even the Chicago Cubs’ opponents can do nothing but marvel at his run.
During Sunday night’s big Cubs win, St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn was mic’d up for ESPN’s broadcast and — unprompted — commentated on Busch’s hot streak.
“Let’s see if we can get this guy out one time,” Winn said on the ESPN broadcast during Busch’s at-bat in the third inning. “He’s been unreal. He’s seeing beach balls right now. It’s different.”
Winn is right — and Major League Baseball thought so, too.
Busch was named the co-NL Player of the Week Monday afternoon (alongside Philadelphia pitcher Zack Wheeler) after hitting a ridiculous .565/.615/1.174 (1.789 OPS) over the Cubs’ six-game week. He helped his team to a 5-1 record with four homers, seven RBI and seven runs scored.
Against the Cardinals over the holiday weekend, Busch truly was “unreal.”
He went 4-for-4 with three homers and five RBI on Friday. Then followed that up with a 3-for-5 performance on Saturday with another home run.
During Sunday’s blowout, Busch collected two more hits — including a double — and a walk while scoring a run.
On the season, the 27-year-old first baseman has crushed 18 homers with 56 RBI and while racking up 3.4 WAR with a .297/.384/.566 slash line (.950 OPS).
Since May 31, Busch has posted the best OPS (1.176) in MLB, ahead of Juan Soto (1.171) and Aaron Judge (1.142).
Unfortunately for Busch, it might be too little, too late to earn a trip to his first-ever All-Star Game. Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman was voted in as the starter while the Mets’ Pete Alonso and Braves’ Matt Olson were named reserves.
Even if players drop out due to injury or other reasons, it might be hard for Busch to crack the roster. Teams do not often take four first basemen to the Midsummer Classic.
Freeman was voted in by fans and Alonso is having a stellar season, but there is a reasonable case to be made that Busch should have been on the roster over Olson.
Busch’s numbers are better across the board than Olson’s — save for a couple. Olson has a higher WAR (3.6 to 3.4) and more RBI (58 vs. 56) than Busch.

