2 min read

Are the Cubs Treating Busch and Turner Differently?

I was listening to the Bleacher Nation Cubs podcast and they mentioned being confused as to why the Cubs pinch-hit for Michael Busch when a lefty reliever comes in but leave Justin Turner in to face a righty reliever. It does feel like we've seen a lot of Justin Turner, but I wanted to check and see how often this was happening.

Turner has played in 13 games from start to finish. Busch started alongside him in 5 of those games. In 3 of the other 8 games, Busch PH for someone else, so Turner has played over Busch for the whole game 5 times this year.

The games in which Busch did not appear were on 4/2, 4/26, 5/14, 5/31, and 6/11. Three were lopsided games:

4/2: 10-2 win over A's

4/26: 10-4 loss to Phillies

6/11: 7-2 loss to Phillies

That leaves the games on 5/14 and 5/31 as the only competitive games this year where Turner played all 9 innings over Busch.

The game on 5/31 was a 2-0 win over the Reds. Turner faced the righty reliever Scott Barlow. This would be an easy time to PH with Busch, but Taylor Rogers was warming up in the pen. The Cubs left Turner in. You might prefer the Busch/Rogers matchup here, but maybe not with the pinch-hit penalty.

I'm not sure why Busch didn't PH for Turner in the game on 5/14, a 3-1 loss to the Marlins. The Cubs faced all righty relievers after Ryan Weathers left the game. Turner got one AB. This is the main example I can find where there isn't an easy explanation for why Turner stayed in with Busch on the bench.

I haven't been very impressed by Turner's hitting this year, and you can definitely argue that the Cubs shouldn't be platooning Busch as much as they are. But Turner has been better against lefties in the last month or so, and Busch has struggled there this year. Busch has played the full game 44/63 times.

I'm not convinced Turner can still hit well, but if you accept that he can still hit lefties better than Busch can, there's only one time he played a full game and Busch was passed over for a PH opportunity against a right-handed reliever. Busch is a much better hitter overall, a better defender, and more fun to watch, but Turner isn't being given special treatment.