The Dodgers are going to promote prospect Michael Busch, reports Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times. Busch will take the roster spot of Max Muncy, who is going on the paternity list. Busch is already on the 40-man roster and won’t require a corresponding move in that regard. The Dodgers are off tonight but start a series in Pittsburgh tomorrow, when the move should be made official.
Busch, 25, was a first round pick of the Dodgers, getting selected 31st overall in 2019. He has since been posting excellent numbers in the minors, showing both tremendous power and patience in the box. He spent all of 2021 in Double-A, walking in 14.1% of his plate appearances and hitting 20 home runs in 107 games. Last year, he split his time between Double-A and Triple-A, hitting 32 home runs in 142 games between those two levels, walking in 11.5% of his trips to the plate. His combined .274/.365/.516 batting line translated to a 118 wRC+. Busch was added to the club’s 40-man roster in November to protect him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft. He’s off to a roaring start here in 2023, hitting .337/.461/.506 through 21 Triple-A games.
If there’s a knock on Busch, it’s on the defensive side of things. A first baseman in college, he’s spent a bit of time there recently but has seen the bulk of his action as a professional at second base. He’s also had short stints at third base and left field. Playing all of those different positions is less a reflection of versatility and more a suggestion that he’s not really a strong defender and is a work in progress as the Dodgers try to find a home for him in the field. Some evaluators have compared him to the player he’s replacing today, Muncy, as both players combine power and plate discipline with some degree of defensive versatility.
The Dodgers had a relatively modest offseason by their standards, letting notable players depart while signing various veterans to one-year deals. That’s allowed them to give some runway to various younger players, such as Miguel Vargas, James Outman, Michael Grove and Ryan Pepiot, though the latter two are now on the injured list. Busch will be latest youngster to get a crack at the big leagues.
Coming into this year, Busch was ranked around the middle of many top 100 prospect lists, including Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus. The first two of those are potentially significant, given the rules under the new collective bargaining agreement. It’s too late in the season for Busch to get to a full year of service time the traditional way, but his status as a top prospect provides him with an alternate path. Under the new CBA, players with less than 60 days of service time that are on two of the preseason top 100 lists of Baseball America, MLB Pipeline or ESPN can earn a full year of service regardless of when they were called up if they finish in the top two of Rookie of the Year voting.
That may end up being a fairly moot point in this case, as it seems possible that Busch will only get a brief stay in the bigs while Muncy is on the paternity list. But if he somehow manages to stick around and perform well enough to get some decent Rookie of the Year votes, he could get himself to that full year. He didn’t crack the top 100 at ESPN but the BA and MLB Pipeline ranks are enough to get that on the table.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Ace_
Congratulations and the Dodgers have around 4 billion reasons to move the team if the city/state of Los Angeles doesn’t build/pay for a new stadium for them by 2032.
riffraff
Muncy has about 259 million reasons to test free agency….did I do that right ace?
Longtimecoming
Just gotta love the Ace man. He can be my wingman anytime – LOL. No, seriously if anyone ever figures out what this guy is taking about let me know.
chasecrane888
So everyone needs a new stadium?
amk1920
Dodger Stadium isn’t a dump like the Oakland Co.
In Seager/Hader We Trust > the 70 MM DH Ohtani
Now, all he needs to do is face MacKenzie Gore. With pitchers no longer hitting, there won’t ever be a true Bush vs Gore matchup for quite a while now.
pt57
Terrance Gore v. Matt Bush?
In Seager/Hader We Trust > the 70 MM DH Ohtani
I don’t see any stats for him in 2023, though. baseball-reference.com/players/g/gorete01.shtml
Did this matchup ever happen, though?
is83
There were the epic Dave Bush v Tom Gor(zaleny) battles of a decade ago.
phillyphan81
Well played sir
acoss13
Gore is too busy chasing ManBearPig. Excelsior!
sfes
I’m thuper therial you guys
StreakingBlue
You mean Busch
Oldguy58
They are going absolutely nowhere. The thought they would float the “we will move” threat will never happen and is laughable. Their ownership group has well over $325 billion, build your own stadium. Hey Oakland will be looking for a team maybe they can go there
larry48
la Dodgers own their own stadium already and all concessions.
Monkey’s Uncle
Busch should be a Cardinal.
LFGSD619
National*
Zerbs63
Busch the beer company should be boycotted
In Seager/Hader We Trust > the 70 MM DH Ohtani
What did they do?
kdevry
Got weird
In Seager/Hader We Trust > the 70 MM DH Ohtani
Ah! The man who decided life is better as a woman… Tbh, I don’t blame this individual for thinking that.
acoss13
He’d make good money in St. Louis with that last name, lots of advertising ideas lol
HalosHeavenJJ
First Mookie now Muncy.
Must be something in the water in the wives section up there ha ha.
FarhanFan22
Brusdar Graterol is going on the paternity list too. 9 months ago is around the all-star break. Timelines checkout
BlueSkies_LA
Yeah these players sure aren’t planning their families around the baseball season. What’s up with that?
HalosHeavenJJ
Exactly. February and March, guys.
BlueSkies_LA
November, December, January too!
lamars
You forgot Evan Phillips, he will be activated today.
FarhanFan22
Max Muncy is having another baby? That means Madison Bumgarner gets a sibling.
acoss13
Bumgarner’s too busy planning his rodeo side hustle, well not really a side hustle now, but now he does not have to use a pseudonym for cover!
Terry B
Underwater birth in the Bay??
Terry B
Glad Busch getting a shot, albeit it may be a short stint but I’m very anxious to see him at the big league level, he’s shown he’s outgrown the minors, he belongs with the big boys, if nothing else Dodgers can showcase him for possible trade.
Just Bob
Phillips is also on paternity leave too
differentbears
And going on bereavement leave after that. I do hope it’s that his great grandfather died at 107, and not something more tragic.
Sour Bob
See, this is what you’re supposed to do when a guy destroys AAA two years in a row, even if he is a 25 year old first baseman: promote him.
coughMERVIScoughcough
acoss13
Nah, let’s keep running Hosmer at first, that’s more sensible.
SODOMOJO
Muncys got 11 already? What is this, ‘98?
Dorothy_Mantooth
Muncy has 11.5M this year. Should be more than enough money to support their second child.
SODOMOJO
That’s a lot of money, and a lot of home runs. Are his children goblins too?
Macbeth
I love reading about things that I saw in motion at 9am this morning at work.
In my business we interact with the teams regularly and it’s cool tobsee the ripple effects.
Last year I was there to watch Josh Hader stomp to his transportation 3 hours after he was shipped to SD.
SODOMOJO
Flight industry? Travel agent?
acoss13
11 home runs and we’re not even done with April. Well, he might not get another in April seeing how he’s going on the paternity list. What is that like 7 days?
Macbeth
Hospitality.
Macbeth
Like I will literally see every single team this year. It’s the best part of my job.
RodBecksBurnerAccount
Nice to see this kid finally get a shot
SODOMOJO
One of those kids who basically lost a year of development in 2020.
RodBecksBurnerAccount
That and he has done nothing but hit since being drafted. The logjam in front of him is finally clearing up.
niel.marshal
What happen with Kody Hoese? Drafted by the Dodgers before Busch (25th overall)
differentbears
In 142 games of AA ball, he’s got a .549 OPS. The bat hasn’t come along at all.
Kershaw's Lesser Known Right Arm
Yep. Hindsight is 2020 but imagine if the Dodgers drafted Shane McClanahan with the 30th overall pick in 2018 instead of Ginn, then used their 25th overall pick on Busch in 2019 instead of Hoese. Woof.
Butter Biscuits
Busch should stay and hang around with the team and give trayce his walking papers we got too many outfielders anyway
Terry B
Exactly, Trayce should’ve be gone along time ago! The hour glass on Thompson is about to run out…Please and thank you!
yogineely
I saw this kid in the cape cod league and happy to see him make it to the dodgers
But It Do
“Some evaluators have compared him to the player he’s replacing today, Muncy, as both players combine power and plate discipline with some degree of defensive versatility.”
What an awkwardly-written sentence that buries the player you’re trying to compare Busch to in the middle. Looks awful with one word set off by commas that needn’t be.
“Some evaluators have compared him to Muncy, the player he’s replacing today, as both players combine power and plate discipline with some degree of defensive versatility.”
That flows MUCH better. I can actually tell who the writer is talking about this way.