Cubs takeaways: What we learned in 16-0 thrashing of Dodgers
The Chicago Cubs bounced back in a big way Saturday night in Los Angeles.
The offense collected 21 hits one day after being shut out, and walloped the Los Angeles Dodgers 16-0 on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium.
[READ: Cubs’ Seiya Suzuki exits game vs. Dodgers with right wrist injury]
Here are three takeaways as the Cubs (10-7) handed the Dodgers (11-5) their first loss at home this season:
Killer B No. 1 — Michael Busch
OK, OK, the sub-headlines on these three takeaways will be a bit lame, and if you want to argue about who should be one and two, that’s fine. But we’re going with Michael Busch because of how the last two days have gone.
It wasn’t a pretty day offensively Friday: The Cubs mustered just three baserunners — two hits and one walk — in a 3-0 loss. Saturday was a complete 180-degree turn, led by Busch’s big day. He went 4-for-6 with a home run, two doubles, four runs and three RBI.
The first baseman kick-started the Cubs’ offense with a solo homer off Dodgers rookie phenom Roki Sasaki to lead off the second inning.
Busch crushed another ball an inning later — this one with the bases loaded — that Dodgers center fielder Andy Pages spectacularly caught to rob him of extra bases and potentially a grand slam.
Busch added an RBI double in the sixth and an RBI single in the seventh.
Busch’s offensive emergence would be a welcome sign for the Cubs’ lineup. Designated hitter Seiya Suzuki exited the game in the fifth inning with right wrist pain, and if he’s out for any extended time, the Cubs will have to find production elsewhere.
Busch has that potential — he hit 21 home runs and had a .775 OPS in his rookie campaign last year — and days like Saturday solidify that.
Killer B No. 2 — Ben Brown
Cubs right-hander Ben Brown turned in his best outing of the season, tossing six scoreless innings with five strikeouts and five hits with no walks.
Brown’s improvement, like Busch’s on the offensive side, would be more than welcome by the Cubs.
There’s uncertainty around Justin Steele’s status after it was announced Friday that he’d receive another opinion on his left elbow tendinitis. It would be a blow to the Cubs’ rotation if Steele is out for an extended time, and there will have to be internal options to fill that void in the interim.
Teams just aren’t trading away ace pitchers in April or even May, so the Cubs would have to weather any Steele-related storm with in-house options. Brown could be the type of starter to do that.
He’s the one pitcher in the rotation who flashes high velocity — he topped out at 97.7 mph on his fastball Saturday and carved through arguably the game’s best lineup. Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman combined to go 2-for-9 against Brown with two singles.
That’s not too shabby.
Killer B No. 3 — Backstops
The Cubs’ catchers are becoming the backbone of their batting order.
Just look at what Carson Kelly and Miguel Amaya did on Saturday: 5-for-6 with three home runs, six RBI and two walks. Not too shabby from a position group that was a Cubs weakness last season.
Cubs catchers had a .601 OPS — the fifth-worst mark in baseball — in 2024. They’re second in the majors this season, though, with a 1.055 OPS. It’s a small sample size, but it’s what the Cubs’ offense needs if it wants to succeed this season.
OK, maybe not a 1.000-plus OPS, but the catcher position can’t be an automatic out in the lineup. So far this season, it hasn’t been. Having a No. 9 hitter who is a threat is a luxury.
Kelly and Amaya have been a solid tandem behind the plate. Cubs manager Craig Counsell has been able to use either of them interchangeably, and that’s allowed both to stay fresh and maximize their output.