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
