Slump buster? Michael Busch helps deliver much-needed win

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After Saturday’s extra-inning loss to the Pirates, in which the Cubs were once again held back by an offense that couldn’t get the timely hit, they vowed that things were going to take a turn for the better at the plate.

Until the eighth inning on Sunday, it didn’t look like that was going to happen just yet. But when Michael Busch pinch-hit for Matt Shaw with two runners on base, he delivered a game-tying, two-run single that erased the 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position the Cubs had posted for the day.

It takes a lot more than one base hit to win a game like Sunday’s — the Cubs were down 5-0 after the second inning and had to chip away at the Pirates’ lead to eventually win 7-6 on Carson Kelly’s walk-off single in the ninth — but Busch’s moment in the eighth inning could mark a turnaround point not only for him but for the team as a whole.

Busch was out of the lineup on Sunday, taking a day off to give him a mental break from the grind of an 0-for-30 slump he’d been mired in since April 1. Coming through with two runners on late in a close game won’t necessarily snap that slump by itself, but it’s certainly a relief for a guy who’s been grinding at the plate.

“The thing I remind myself a lot is no matter the ups, no matter the downs, you just keep working, keep focusing on things that you want to focus on when it comes to either your swing or defensively, or your approach,” Busch said. “Holding strong to some of those things, and just kind of keep putting one foot in front of the other.”

Again, there are a lot of things that go into winning after being down by five runs so early in the game, like Swanson’s savvy baserunning in the seventh and eighth innings, Michael Conforto leading off the ninth with a pinch-hit double, the bullpen coming together to throw three scoreless innings, and Jameson Taillon finding a way to go six frames despite getting battered by the longball early.

All of that makes a game-tying pinch hit single like Busch’s possible. There’s the individual execution in the right moments, as well as a general spirit of positive expectation, no matter what. Taillon said the attitude in the Cubs’ dugout even after they were down 5-0 in the second was that it was still a game they would win.

“Our position players stayed really, really engaged,” he said. “All game they were just super into it, so they were encouraging me the entire time, and every time I’d come off the field, they were like, stay right there, keep us there.

“So in a weird way, it felt like a game we were going to win and come back from.”

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Busch is just one member of the team, but his attitude and demeanor during his week-and-a-half slump typifies that of the Cubs as a whole during what has been a bumpy start to the 2026 season. They’re 7-8 after Sunday’s win, but narrowly avoided being swept at home by the Pirates and have yet to put it together at the plate for more than a game or two at a time.

Still, when you have guys like Busch who remain steady during their personal struggles, that can help keep a team from floundering as a group. Despite what he was going through, Busch’s teammates said they didn’t see it affect how he carried himself.

“To be honest, I wasn’t aware [he was] 0-for-30,” Taillon said. “He’s so steady mentally. It’s not like he’s in a ‘Woe is me’ attitude or anything. He’s just working, he’s being himself. Still a pleasure to play with and be around, so I really had no idea.”

The decision to sit Busch was based on giving him a chance to reset, and though with the wind blowing out and a righty starting for the Pirates, it might have been tempting to try him out there for one more day, Counsell decided it was time.

And although Busch’s clutch hit on Sunday was one of the major swings in the game — his RBI single marked the first time the win probability shifted in the Cubs’ favor — Counsell knows it’s a not a guarantee that all is right with the world again with his offense.

“I think it let’s you take a big exhale,” he said of Busch’s hit. “It doesn’t give you anything tomorrow or the next day, but again, it lets you take a big exhale and you contribute to a win. And that, for every guy in there, you desperately want to do that.”

Yes, it was just one hit, and it will take a lot more to lift Busch out of his uncharacteristic slump, but it’s an important step in the right direction. Sunday’s single raised his batting average to just .135, but Busch’s track record would indicate that he’s due for a hot streak. Busch was one of the most reliable hitters in the Cubs’ lineup in 2025. He lead the team in home runs and had the highest wRC+ among regulars, and Taillon said Busch was one of the primary reasons the Cubs ended up playing in October last year.

He won’t lift the Cubs out of their early season doldrums by himself, but getting Busch going would go a long way. The encouraging thing on that front is that Busch seems to have handled his slump in the right way, and the at-bat he had on Sunday could be a sign that he — and the rest of the offense — are starting to turn things around.

“In the box, it’s such a roller coaster sometimes,” Busch said. “Sometimes you can control that. I feel like I’ve been having really good at-bats, [but] probably not as many as I want. But I feel like having good at-bats and not trying to get too flustered [while] at the same time try to be a good teammate. Try to play some good defense, run the bases hard.

“There’s a lot of other things that I feel like I can control a little more than sometimes in the box, but that’s kind of the way the game goes. There are a lot more aspects of winning in this game than just hitting.”