Chicago Cubs: Michael Busch’s unbelievable stat is truly eye-catching

The Chicago Cubs have hit their first real rough patch of the season, riding an ugly 2-7 record over their last nine games.

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And to make matters worse, they are now just one loss away from falling into a second place tie in the NL Central Division. With a loss to the Milwaukee Brewers tonight at Wrigley Field, the Brewers take the division lead and the Cubs fall to a half-game behind.

Right now, things are just ugly across the board.

The starting rotation has begun to falter as the stress and strain of injury finally takes its toll. The new and vastly improved Shota Imanaga got touched up yesterday, giving up eight earned runs in 4.1 innings pitched against the always-difficult Brewers.

The bullpen has also been a source of frustration as inconsistency has plagued the relief corps, making for an uncomfortable ride whenever the call gets made to go to the pen.

The Cubs’ offensive woes

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Even the offense, which was the team’s greatest asset at one point, has been a major letdown recently.

Added on to the massive fails regarding hits with runners in scoring position, some of the team’s biggest bats have grown suddenly ice cold. Pete Crow-Armstrong is 3-for-30 in the last nine games. Seiya Suzuki and Nico Hoerner are 6-for-36 in that same stretch of time. Ian Happ, meanwhile, is 4-for-31 over those last nine. The poor offensive tallies could go on, by the way, as Dansby Swanson and Moises Ballesteros have posted more feeble numbers than those mentioned above.

Michael Busch, however, looks like an absolute offensive titan by comparison.

Michael Busch’s insane on base percentage

Sure, the Cubs first baseman is only 8-for-29 (.276) in the same last nine games, but he’s 6-for-18 in his last five with a home run and 4 RBIs. And over the entire month of May, after a horrid start to the season, he’s hitting .339.

But the biggest eye-catcher when it comes to Busch’s fairly recent run of hitting success is his absolutely insane .493 on base percentage (OBP) this month through seventy-five plate appearances.

Getting on base practically half the time through seventeen games is insane. The stat tracks, though, as the former Los Angeles Dodgers prospect maintained a respectable OBP even through his early-season struggles. On the season, he currently has an OBP of .367 against a batting average of .241 with four home runs and 27 RBIs.

And it’s a good thing that Busch has come around because there is, almost literally, nobody else the Cubs can call on to play first base.

Offseason pickup Tyler Austin is sidelined indefinitely after knee surgery and may not be ready to play until later in the season. Prospect Jonathon Long has been doing well in Triple-A Iowa, but reviews are mixed as to his viability as an everyday first baseman. Beyond that, Chicago’s options for Busch replacements are almost non-existent, with emergency subs Matt Shaw, Miguel Amaya, Ian Happ, and Moises Ballesteros in the far background.

For now, though, Busch is doing his thing. The rest of the team will have to wake up and join him.

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Source: https://www.chicitysports.com/chicago-cubs-michael-busch-hitting-on-base-percentage-first-base/