ST. LOUIS — The Cubs boiled down first baseman Michael Busch’s hitting struggles in the last month to timing before things clicked Saturday. He blasted a leadoff double and a solo home run in his first two at-bats of the Cubs’ 9-1 victory against the Cardinals.
‘‘Over the course of my career, [I’ve] just had moments [when] timing wasn’t good, mechanically and stuff like that,’’ Busch said after the game Saturday. ‘‘So there’s always boxes you check. Sometimes you’re getting pitched really well, and you try to figure out a way to win that at-bat. Just haven’t been doing a great job of it, but I felt much better [Saturday].’’
Consistency had been Busch’s hallmark for the first three months, which meant his steady contributions often were overshadowed by flashier performances. But entering the game Saturday, he had hit only .155 in his last 25 games. Three homers in that span were his only extra-base hits.
‘‘We dialed in all the mechanics all offseason [and] came in in a really good spot,’’ hitting coach Dustin Kelly said Sunday. ‘‘The only thing that we’ve had to monitor him with has just been the timing of the leg kick and then the timing of the forward move.’’
The Cubs noticed Busch was planting his foot a little later than ideal in recent weeks, Kelly said, which had him behind on fastballs. Kelly also attributed Busch’s higher chase rate to that timing issue.
‘‘A lot of that has to do with the tempo of the pitcher,’’ Kelly said. ‘‘Slide steps kind of do it to him sometimes or quicker motion. So we have to monitor it. But we didn’t change anything. It was just bringing awareness to it.’’
On Saturday, Busch jumped all over a pair of breaking balls about belt-high to charge an early offensive push.
‘‘That leadoff spot’s not easy,’’ said left fielder Ian Happ, who occupied that spot up until about a month ago. ‘‘Not easy to get those ABs every day to start the game off; you feel like you’re up all the time. And he’s handled it really well. . . . He’s just been really solid all year. Completely, totally overlooked but consistent.’’