Michael James Busch is the son of Mike and Judy Busch, has five sisters and two brothers.. brother Logan plays baseball at North Dakota State.. Michael also played three years of varsity football and hockey, leading his team to a state final as a quarterback.. captioned all three teams and earned all-state honors in baseball.. Michael listed among the top 500 players in the country by Perfect Game, 2016 PG High Honorable Mention All- American.. coached by Kevin Kirkwold...From Simley High School.. Michael was ranked as the No. 3 player in Minnesota and the No. 1 shortstop in the state by Perfect Game.. Also considered the No. 112 player national and the No. 17 shortstop in Prep Baseball Reports national coverage area.. From there went on to University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill started 38 games and appeared in 55 as a freshmen, primarily at first base.. he hit .215 with three homers, eight doubles and 22 RBI.. His sophomore season started all 64 games and was on the horizon as being one of the top first baseman in the country.. he batted .317 while leading the team in home runs (13), RBI (63), slugging percentage (.521), on base percentage (.465) and walks (55).. Named the Golden Spikes Award Midseason watch list, earned All-Cape League Team Honors with Chatham Anglers over the summer.
2022
Combined with Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City to make an impressive season slashing .274/.365/.516 with an OPS of .881 in 142 games...During his time with Double-A Tulsa, led the team with the best average of .306 (33-for-108), OPS (1.112) and slash line (.306.445/.667)…finished with 31 runs, 33 hits, six doubles and 11 home runs before being promoted to Triple-A on May 17...The hitting machine made his presence known upon promotion, tied with Miguel Vargas for the most doubles on the team (32)…produced a slash line of .266/.343/.480 and totaled 87 runs, 118 hits, 32 doubles, 21 homers and 79 RBI...Solidified career highs in multiple categories during the 2022 season: 151 hits, 118 runs, 108 RBI, 38 doubles, 32 home runs and four stolen bases...With Oklahoma City, became one of 20 players to hit 30 or more home runs in the Minors. Was in the middle of a 12-game hitting streak from May 8-20 upon promotion to Triple-A…had 12-game streak from June 7-21 with Triple-A Oklahoma City as well…had 12 games where he had 3+ hits in one game (40 multi-hit games overall)… recorded a career best of five hits in one game on Aug. 14…#42 among MLB’s Top 100 Prospects and comes in at fourth on the Los Angeles Dodgers’ top 30 list…places second of top 10 second basemen/outfielders for 2022… Was an offensive threat in the seventh inning, batting a .385 (3-for-13) average.
2021
Had a stellar season with Double-A Tulsa, appearing in 107 games and averaging .267 (109-for-409) with a .386 on-base percentage and .484 slugging percentage... Solidified career highs in multiple categories during the 2021 season: 84 runs, 27 doubles, one triple, 20 home runs, and 67 RBI... Named as a Futures Game Selection with the Tulsa Drillers and named a MiLB.com Organization All-Star…was also awarded Double-A Central League Offensive Player of the Week during the week of Sept. 5, 2021... Slugged his first professional home run on May 5 against Amarillo…went on to hit 20 home runs during the season... Played 11 games (10 starts) at first base and 88 games (87 starts) at second base, committing just eight errors in 383 total chances Had a ten-game hit streak from Sept. 3-14 to wrap up the season, going 19-for-40 with three home runs and 12 RBI…recorded 27 multi-hit games with his only multi-home run outing on Sept. 4 vs. Springfield…homered in 19 of 107 contests…stole two bases (May 25 at Arkansas and July 6 at Springfield)…recorded six RBI against Springfield on Sept. 4, knocking in three runs via two home runs and a double for ten total bases…was solid in home and away contests, slashing .268/.394/.482 and .265/.376/.486 respectively… liked to hit right-handed pitching, notching a .288 average (90-for-313) with 52 RBI…hit an astounding .571 (8-for-14) when batting in the second inning…was even-keeled against starting pitching (.258/.367/.452 slashline) and pitchers in relief (.277/.407/.521).
2020
Spent the season at the alternate site on the USC campus.
2019
Joined the AZL Dodgers Lasorda on July 13th over the five games with the team and had 13 at-bats with one hit and one run scored...played with the Great Lake Loons for five games, batting .182 with four runs and two RBI...Was drafted in the first round (31st overall) in the First-Year Player Draft out of the University of North Carolina.