Michael Busch sets Cubs history in bizarre way in a dominant Fourth of July win

Fireworks came early for the Chicago Cubs, as fans were treated to an 11-3 routing of the St. Louis Cardinals. Five Cubs combined to hit eight home runs, setting a new franchise record in the process.

Nobody enjoyed the game more than first baseman Michael Busch, who sent three balls into the bleachers to etch his place into Cubs history in an interesting way.

According to ESPN's Jesse Rogers, Busch is the third player in Cubs history with three home runs in a single game against the Cardinals, joining Moises Alou in 2003 and Hank Leiber in 1939. What's even more bizarre is that all three players accomplished the feat on Independence Day.

Busch's heroics are just an exclamation point on an already impressive season.

While everyone wants to talk about the monster offensive seasons of Pete Crow-Armstrong and Kyle Tucker, Busch has been right up there with them. Thanks to a torrid month of June that saw him club seven home runs with an OPS of 1.002, Busch leads all primary first basemen with a WRC+ of 157.

When looking at his Baseball Savant page, it’s easy to see where Busch thrives. He excels at hitting the ball hard and only chases pitches 21.7 percent of the time, placing him in the 86th percentile among qualified MLB hitters. Simply put, Busch has a knack for putting the ball in play, but still has enough discipline to get on base with a high clip, as seen by his .373 OBP.

In order to truly fathom just how impressive of a season Busch is having so far, take a look at how his stats compare to Dodgers star Freddie Freeman, the starting first baseman for the NL at the upcoming MLB All-Star Game. So far in 2025, Busch has been worth more wins above replacement than Freeman, leading him in nearly every offensive stat.

Of course, Busch is nowhere near the level of stardom that Freeman has achieved. There are holes in his game, specifically his struggles to hit left-handed pitchers (.140 average versus lefties), that has led to him sharing time at first with 40-year-old Justin Turner in a platoon role. 

However, should he keep progressing at the rate he is, Busch is well on his way towards joining Freeman amongst baseball’s elite first basemen. If one thing is for sure, Busch put the league on notice today with his offensive breakout, cememting himself as one of the best first basemen in the National League in 2025.