Michael Busch Could See Time All Over the Infield for Dodgers; Third Base Likely with Muncy Out
So you’ve called up your top infield prospect. What now? For the Dodgers and Michael Busch there’s an imperfect path to playing time for what should be a brief call up. That’s just playing him at third base in place of the guy he’s filling in for on the roster. The problem with that is he just barely started playing third base a couple weeks ago down at Triple-A. And in his 9 games at the position so far, he has 3 errors.
He got a soft landing point for his debut on Tuesday, starting at DH with J.D. Martinez sidelined with a bad back. But on Wednesday, he’s expected to be on the field. Dave Roberts spoke with reporters about where we could see Busch on the field this week.
“For Michael, I feel really good about third, second, and then first. He’s played a lot of second, obviously. I think he can play first in his sleep. And recently the player development guys gave him as much of runway as we could at third base and he’s taken very well to it.”
Credit to Dave for hyping up the kid up at third base.
Busch also spoke with reporters before the game and discussed his transition to third base so far.
“It’s been a lot of fun actually. I think I played one game of third base in amateur ball back in 2016. But I’ve always taken ground balls there, just trying to get a little more arm strength. So I’ve always been taking ground balls over there since I’ve been drafted.
“This team over the past so many years has been so good and there’s a reason they’ve been so good because they have so many guys who can play different positions,” Busch said. “So that’s always been in the back of my mind whether I’ve just been playing first or just playing second or over at third. If I can play a different position, it only helps the team if I can play it at a high level. There’s no bad that can come out of that. I’m just kind of looking at it that way.”
Via SportsNet LA
As far as what the team expects from Busch while he’s up with the club for a few days, Roberts said he just wants the rookie infielder to “be in the moment” but added that he’s earned the big league opportunity, despite being called up to fill in for Max Muncy while he’s away.
Busch went 1-3 with a walk in his MLB debut on Tuesday, connecting on an RBI double in the 6th inning and driving home his long time minor league teammate James Outman.
The youth movement is alive and well in Los Angeles.
Busch Belongs
While Busch is just expected to be up for a few games, the consensus among Dodger people is that the prospect is ready. The problem for him is that the Dodger lineup is tough to crack. Dave Roberts addressed that in a way after Tuesday’s game.
“He’s earned this promotion,” Roberts said. “And so when we had an opportunity to give him a little runway, we wanted to let him know we see him and see what he’s done. You can talk as much as you want to the players about being part of the plan, but when they keep performing, it gets discouraging. When you have our ballclub, that’s kinda what guys signed into. But when we do have a chance to recognize performance, I think that’s fantastic.”
What that means for the prospect’s future is an unknown, but there should be space on the roster for run producers, regardless of what position they play or which box they stand in at home plate. With several other guys struggling to produce, the Dodgers will have to consider some tough conversations sooner rather than later.
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Just put him in JD’s place and move on from Martinez. JD’s DH only is problem on multiple levels given Will Smith’s issues. JD would have to hit .290 with 30 HRs to justify staying. I don’t see it.
i agree Bush needed by team and has earned a spot plays 1st, 2nd, 3rd and outfield. Only 2 in outfield are doing much and 3rd spot definatly could use a boost a Bush boost maybe