Dodgers: Michael Busch Listed as Top-10 Prospect at Second Base
The Dodgers have continued to add significant pieces to their farm system via trade, draft, and international free agency over the past few seasons, courtesy of Andrew Friedman.
For example, the Dodgers were able to pick up Josiah Gray and Jeter Downs in a trade with the Cincinnati Reds. They were able to pick up toolsy outfielder Luis Rodriguez and catcher Diego Cartaya in international free agency. They were even able to pick up Kody Hoese in the first round of the 2019 MLB Draft. However, while Hoese gets a lot of the high praise, his 2019 first round counterpart Michael Busch is just as good of a prospect.
Busch was selected as a compensation pick for the Dodgers failing to sign first round pick JT Ginn in the 2018 MLB Draft. He has proven to be an excellent addition to the prospect core in limited time.
In a recent column for MLB.com, Jonathan Mayo lists Busch as the sixth best second base prospect in the league, mixed in with some excellent names.
Here's the brand-new 2020 Top 10 2B Prospects list, which has undergone a major overhaul since last year, with only two holdovers remaining from the 2019 preseason list: https://t.co/v6vjkRNHCl pic.twitter.com/jVKGt6cGMa
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) January 20, 2020
The list is topped by the Rockies’ Brendan Rodgers — one of the top prospects in the game — as well as the White Sox’ Nick Madrigal and Rays’ Vidal Brujan. It was a pretty tough list to crack and Busch happens to be in the thick of it.
The second baseman suffered a hand injury on a hit by pitch in August, but showed some real potential as evidenced by a 20.0 percent walk rate and a solid 14.3 percent strikeout rate across ten games for the Dodgers’ minor league system.
The then 21 year-old also spent some time with the Glendale Desert Dogs in the Arizona Fall League last October, collecting 3 hits and recording 9 walks in 22 plate appearances (.545 OBP).
Busch spoke about that experience earlier this off-season.
“I didn’t get too many at-bats this summer. It was a good opportunity to come play with some good talent, a bunch of prospects here. It’s a good time and I definitely can learn a lot. The pitching here is top of the line, so getting to see that will help get me going for next year.”
The Minnesota native is projecting to be a quick riser and you could see him at the big-league level as early as 2022.
NEXT: Dodgers 2020 Top 10 Prospects Released by Baseball America
Seriously another left handed hitter?
Hey Don, that’s EXACTLY what I was about to post here, and correct.. I am not interested in him because he is ANOTHER LHB and they can keep McKinstry in the minors while they are at it because HE IS JUST ANOTHER LHB Enough is enough for crying out loud!
The lefty/righty thing doesn’t have to mean anything unless it’s Joc. No one cares what hand the pitcher uses when JT bats and both Verdugo and Muncy have actually hit left handed pitching better than right. Yasiel Puig also hits righties better than left. It depends on the player. There are numerous advantages to batting left handed which is why so many do.
When your offense is predominantly LH even though those ya mentioned do well enough against them, it’s a lineup that is not balanced out enough to keep the opposing team from throwing every LHP possible at Dodgers in late inning key situations and those % are a good reason why. Dodgers, other than a good hitter like Turner are weak from the right side and in October that has gotten exposed in each of the past few years. I cannot recall any recent WS winner that had a lineup that was mostly LH like Dodgers have been. Dodger RH hitters that may be current on this team do not put much fear in an opposing pitcher when allis said and done.
One other question for ya here;
If what ya say is accurate , and Muncy, Bellinger do hit LHP well enough, why then does Roberts and Co. shuffle the lineup around with players starting or not starting every time they face a LHP? BTW Verdugo has a small sample size due to him being out for the last 2 months of 2019.
Paul … Because Hernandez is no longer a regular starter, Joc is the only one that shuffles because of his splits and he can’t hit a lick against LHP so has to be platooned.
It’s true Verdugo has only the single major league season but his minor league splits are the same. He doesn’t just hit lefties better, he hits them A LOT better. His career BA against LH starters is like 50 points higher than RH starters. The man can hit regardless of which hand the pitcher uses. Let’s hope he gets and stays healthy.
Roberts – who blew it in ’18 when he sat both Muncy and Bellinger against the Sox’s LHP in the WS – mostly shuffles to get playing time for bench guys like Taylor, Hernandez, and Freeze who deserve more time than just pinch hitting. When he plays them he naturally matches them up.
Fyi . . .
There are several quality right handed International batting prospects such as Diego Cartaya, Luis Rodriguez, Andy Pages and Alex De Jesus for the Dodgers. In addition there is DJ Peters, Kody Hoese and Jeter Downs coming up in the near term.
Probably in the upcoming June draft and July’s International Draft more RHB will be taken.
So please be patient and your wish will come true.
The Dodgers will find a way to block all of those players by acquiring more Pollocks. That’s what they do. They don’t want to get real stars because of their prospects but then they block them by signing and trading for cheap overrated veterans. Unless they trade Joc, Verdugo once again won’t get the playing time he needs because of Pollock.
You are certainly not a Dr of baseball. Wish people would learn to keep their mouths shut iwhen they are so clueless about a things.
Take your own advice. I’ve seen nothing but clueless posts out of you whenever you post
Also add RHB prospects Connor Wong, Miguel Vargas and Devin Mann.
Marc, while that may be true we do know that many of those ya mentioned either;
may not ever reach MLB
or they may be gone via minor league FA because no team will be able to keep them all and even though they are RHB, of course not proven yet even at the minor level, or at least some of them are not yet
I am no scout but being a former AA player I tend to be pretty accurate on players. As much as I admire what AF has built w the farm and the talent stacked up there, I don’t think this guy(Busch) will amount to much. I hope articles like this increase his trade value. Think this article was more of a reach. Hopefully I’m wrong….
You’re a know nothing hack and a liar
I’m curious why you say that. From what I hear and read, this guy handles the bat really well and many baseball people think he was a steal where drafted. Why do you feel differently?
Because the guy doesn’t actually know anything like he thinks he does and then has a nerve to call everyone else clueless. Strange guy
I would like to see the Dodgers outfield as follows:
LF
Michael Busch
Alex Verdugo
CF
Cody Bellinger
RF
Joc Pederson
DJ Peters