UNC Baseball Alum Activates ‘Busch-Whacking’ in Home Run Streak
Former UNC baseball star Michael Busch is now a Windy City slugger and has hit a home run in four straight games.
Most fans of UNC baseball recall Michael Busch hitting home runs while he lived in Chapel Hill. It seems that the former Tar Heel is beginning to assist Chicago Cubs supporters in creating similar memories.
The 6-foot-1 infielder, who spent three seasons as a student at UNC from 2017 to 2019, has just gone on a four-day home run streak while traveling with the Cubs throughout the West Coast.
Though Busch had only hit three home runs in 107 career plate appearances before his recent hot streak, he has been lights out in his debut season as a regular player.
In the Cubs’ subsequent game against the Mariners, Busch launched a 406-foot bomb after launching a 405-foot bomb in Wednesday’s defeat to the San Diego Padres. The slugger extended his run with a 437-foot rocket in Sunday’s triumph, then added another on Saturday.
With 15 games played thus far this season, Busch leads the squad in both home run and batting average (he is presently hitting.327). In the early going of the season, which has seen the Cubs start 9-6, he has also tallied 11 RBIs on 16 hits.
The 26-year-old hit.282 in his three seasons at Chapel Hill, finishing his collegiate career with 174 hits, 32 home runs, and 142 RBIs. He subsequently made the decision to enter the 2019 MLB Amateur Draft, and the Los Angeles Dodgers selected him in the first round with the No. 31 pick.
Prior to the current season, he inked a $740,000 one-year deal to join the Cubs, after his MLB debut with the Dodgers in 2023.
At 9:40 p.m. ET on Monday, the Cubs go to Arizona to play the Diamondbacks, and Busch will try to make it five games in a row.