MESA, Ariz. — The first person who came to Michael Busch’s mind when he heard he had been traded to the Cubs was hitting coach Dustin Kelly.
They had spent the COVID season in 2020 together at the Dodgers’ alternate training site. Busch had been a first-round draft pick the year before, and Kelly was a minor-league hitting coach.
‘‘The way he approached hitting. I really respected,’’ Busch said in a recent conversation with the Sun-Times. ‘‘He was one guy who really studied your swing and studied who you were.’’
So when the Cubs brought in Busch as a long-term solution at first base, he and Kelly picked up that relationship where it left off.
Even with center fielder/first baseman Cody Bellinger returning, Busch is expected to get a shot at claiming a regular role. The Cubs also have Patrick Wisdom and non-roster invitees Dominic Smith and Garrett Cooper as options at first base.
The Cubs have yet to make Cooper’s deal official, but sources confirmed he agreed to terms on a minor-league contract with an invitation to major-league spring training.
‘‘Spring’s been going great,’’ Busch said. ‘‘I’m feeling good over at first. It’s been fun. . . . There’s good energy in the room. There are a lot of good people in this organization and in this clubhouse.’’
Busch played plenty of first base in college, but he has had more time at second and third at the professional level.
‘‘A lot of it’s just getting reps,’’ he said.
With the Dodgers, who have so much depth and talent in the infield, it was unclear where Busch would end up playing in the field.
‘‘Everybody knew that he could hit,’’ Kelly said, thinking back to 2020. ‘‘Some of the question was, where was he going to land [on defense]? And I think this is a great situation for him to get a lot of innings at first base and get a lot of at-bats early. It’s such an easy, compact, simple swing.’’
Busch’s swing hasn’t changed much since he and Kelly first worked together.
‘‘I think it’s gotten a little more consistent and it’s gotten a little more efficient,’’ Busch said.
He played around a little bit with the starting position for his hands, but they always got to the same spot on his load.
Busch clearly was out of place in Triple-A last season, with a dominant slash line of .323/.431/.618. He was named the Pacific Coast League MVP, but there wasn’t any consistent playing time for him in the majors. He hit .167 in 72 at-bats with the Dodgers.
‘‘He’s tricky because he’s a right-handed thrower, left-handed hitter,’’ Kelly said. ‘‘And I think some of those guys, with the four-seam fastball and the velocity at the big leagues, there is an adjustment.’’
That played a factor in Busch’s struggles at the end of the season, Kelly said. So being aggressive at the top of the strike zone and getting to those high heaters will be a focus for Busch.
‘‘Being more right-hand-dominant, it creates more of a vertical swing,’’ Busch said. ‘‘And you’re not as flat, and usually a flatter swing covers the top more.’’
In drill work, Busch will take one-handed swings with his left hand to keep it active and work to counteract the temptation to pull the bat down to the ball with his right hand.
Busch’s first spring game was Monday. He dealt with some shoulder soreness at the beginning of camp, so the Cubs slowed him down as a precaution. He walked in his first plate appearance and made solid contact for a single in his second.
