Shota Imanaga

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Shōta Imanaga (今永 昇太)
(The Throwing Philosopher; Mike Imanaga II)

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Biographical Information[edit]

Shota Imanaga pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball and for the Japanese national team before moving over to Major League Baseball in 2024.

Imanaga had a 18-16, 2.03 record in his college career and won a MVP. [1] The Yokohama BayStars took him in the first round of the 2015 NPB draft. [2] He was 8-9 with a 2.93 ERA as a rookie in 2016, fanning 136 in 135 1/3 IP and allowing 108 hits. He was 6th in the Central League in whiffs (between Kris Johnson and Kenta Ishida), tied for 8th in losses and just missed qualifying for the ERA title (he would have been 6th, between Yuta Iwasada and Randy Messenger).

In 2017, he was 11-7 with a 2.98 ERA. He made the CL leaders for ERA (5th, between Yusuke Nomura and Takumi Akiyama), wins (tied Messenger for 7th), Ks (4th, between Messenger and Haruhiro Hamaguchi) and shutouts (2, tied Kazuto Taguchi and Kazuki Yabuta for 2nd, one behind Tomoyuki Sugano). [3] In the 2017 Japan Series, he set a season high with 10 K in six innings in Game 2 against the Softbank Hawks, Tomoya Mikami relieving him with a lead that did not hold. He was only the second southpaw to whiff ten in his first Japan Series game; Hisanori Takahashi had done it 17 years prior. [4] He then got the nod in Game 6, with the BayStars down 3 games to 2. He struck out 11 and allowed a Nobuhiro Matsuda dinger but no other runs in seven; Shoichi Ino took over with a 3-1 lead but again Softbank rallied. He joined Yu Darvish as the only hurlers to fan 10+ in back-to-back starts in a Japan Series. [5] He easily led the Series in K, ten ahead of Nao Higashihama. [6] He also represented Japan in the 2017 Asia Professional Baseball Championship.

The Fukuoka native had a rocky 2018, though (4-11, 6.80, 108 H in 84 2/3 IP), winding up in the minors for six games (1-2, 3.05). He tied David Buchanan for the CL lead in defeats. Hoping to get back on track, he played for the Canberra Cavalry in the 2018-2019 Australian Baseball League. He was lights-out there (4-0, 0.51, 14 H, 1 BB, 57 K in 35 IP). He won the ERA title by .59 ahead of Markus Solbach, tied for 9th in wins, was 6th in K (between Frank Gailey and Conor Lourey, both of whom who made 10 starts to his 6) and easily led in WHIP (.43 to Solbach's .75). Solbach beat him out as the All-Star SP.

He built on that, returning to form in 2019 (13-7, 2.91, 186 K, 128 H in 170 IP). He was 4th in ERA (between Shun Yamaguchi and Yuki Nishi), 2nd in wins (two behind Yamaguchi), 2nd in K (2 behind Yamaguchi) and led in whitewashes (3). [7] In 2019 NPB All-Star Game 1, he took over for Daichi Osera in the 3rd with a 2-0 deficit against the Pacific League and retired all six batters he faced (Eigoro Mogi, Shogo Akiyama, Kensuke Kondo, Hideto Asamura, Hotaka Yamakawa and Masataka Yoshida) before Yamaguchi relieved. [8] He was 11th in voting for the 2019 CL MVP. [9]

Imanaga then made the Japanese squad for the 2019 Premier 12. Against Taiwan, he went three shutout frames (4 H, 4 K, 0 BB) before Yudai Ono relieved; Ono got the credit for the win. He then dominated against Bronze Medal winner Mexico, allowing only one hit (a Jon Jones homer) in six innings, fanning eight, to beat Horacio Ramirez. He was 4th in the event in whiffs (behind Hyeon-jong Yang, Arturo Reyes and Shao-Ching Chiang), leading the champion Japanese team. [10]

He was 5-3 with a 3.23 ERA and 63 K in 53 IP in 2020, a shoulder injury cutting his season short. [11] Imanaga came back in 2021, having a 5-5 record with a 3.08 ERA. The southpaw improved in 2022, and led the Central League with a 0.94 WHIP and 2 shutouts (tied with six others). He was 11-4 with a 2.26 ERA, tying Shinichi Ohnuki for 3rd in wins (2 behind Koyo Aoyagi), tied Aoyagi for 5th in strikeouts (22 behind Shosei Togo) and 3rd in ERA (0.21 behind Aoyagi and .08 behind Nishi). Imanaga also became the first hurler to complete a no-hitter in Hokkaido Prefecture, doing so on June 7 against the Nippon Ham Fighters; he faced only one more than the minimum. In the 2022 CLCS, he pitched 5 innings against the Hanshin Tigers, only allowing 2 runs due to Koji Chikamoto's double, but Aoyagi still beat him with 6 shutout innings.

Imanaga then made it onto Japan's roster for the 2023 World Baseball Classic. He debuted against South Korea and relieved Yu Darvish in the 4th inning. He pitched 3 innings with 3 strikeouts, and he only allowed a run due to Kun-woo Park's solo homer to get a hold. Imanaga then succeeded Hiromi Itoh in the 6th inning against Italy. He retired Vinnie Pasquantino, then struck out Miles Mastrobuoni and Vito Friscia to end his work; Darvish relieved him. The southpaw was the starter for Japan in the Gold Medal game against the United States. He retired Mookie Betts to open the game, but Mike Trout then hit a double. Imanaga struck out Paul Goldschmidt and forced Nolan Arenado to ground out. He struggled in the 2nd inning, and Trea Turner blasted a solo shot after Kyle Schwarber flew out. J.T. Realmuto then added a single. Imanaga fanned Cedric Mullins, gave up another hit to Tim Anderson and finally retired Betts again to end his work; Togo succeeded him. The Samurai Japan beat the USA to win Gold in the event, and Imanaga was the winning pitcher for the final game.

After his success in the international events, the Fukuoka extended his domination in 2023. In 2023 NPB All-Star Game 2, he relieved Aren Kuri in the 3rd inning. He retired Yutaro Sugimoto and Takeya Nakamura then struck out Kondo to complete a shutout inning; Trevor Bauer succeeded him. He also set the team record for 15 strikeouts in a game on July 7 against the Yomiuri Giants. Imanaga ended up 7-4 with a 2.80 ERA, led the CL with 174 strikeouts (29 ahead of Hiroto Takahashi) and ranked 10th in ERA (1.02 behind Shoki Murakami). Following the 2023 season, he asked for his name to be placed in the posting system in order to move over to Major League Baseball, which was done on November 27th.

He was signed by the Chicago Cubs on January 11, 2024 to a four-year contract worth $53 million with possible options after that. He had an excellent major league debut on April 1st when he limited the Colorado Rockies to just two hits and no runs over six innings, striking out 9 while walking none to earn credit for a 5-0 win. He did not give up his first hit until two men were out in the 6th, when Charlie Blackmon and Brendan Rodgers hit consecutive singles before he struck out Nolan Jones to complete his day's work. He pitched four shutout innings in his second start, then on April 13th he finally gave up a run in 5 1/3 innings in a 4-1 win over the Seattle Mariners, but it was unearned, so after three starts, his record stood at 2-0 with an ERA of 0.00. He gave up his first earned run in his next start, but was still posting amazing numbers after five starts, as his 4 wins and 0.98 ERA were both leading the National League. He was named the National League Rookie of the Month for April. On September 4th, he pitched the first seven innings of a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, striking out seven and walking two but giving up no hits. Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge followed him with a hitless inning each for a combined no-hitter, the first one pitched by the Cubs at Wrigley Field since 1972, when Milt Pappas was the pitcher. The Cubs won handily, 12-0, as both Dansby Swanson and Pete Crow-Armstrong homered and drove in three runs while Cody Bellinger also went deep. On September 16th, he set a new personal mark by racking up 11 strikeouts in 6 innings in a 9-2 win over the Oakland Athletics, earning his 14th win of the year. It was his fifth consecutive winning start, and he eclipsed the best mark for wins he had posted in Japan - 13 in 2019. He finished the year at 15-3, 2.91 in 29 starts, with 174 strikeouts in 173 1/3 innings. He made the 2024 MLB All-Rookie Team, finished 4th in the voting for Rookie of the Year and 5th in the Cy Young race. He was second in the NL in winning percentage and third in wins and WHIP.

Before spring training started in 2025, he was named by the Cubs to be the starter of their first game in the "Tokyo Series" to be played at the Tokyo Dome against the Los Angeles Dodgers on March 18th. He faced a fellow Japanese hurler as Yoshinobu Yamamoto received the starting assignment for the Dodgers. With the Cubs being the home team that day, he threw the first pitch of the 2025 MLB season, to Shohei Ohtani no less, and proceeded to pitch four scoreless innings in spite of a career-high four walks.

He throws a fastball (peak 94.4 mph), slider, curveball and change-up. [12] He has authored a book on pitching.

Notable Achievements[edit]

Sources[edit]

  1. ↑ Japanese Wikipedia
  2. ↑ Graveyard Baseball
  3. ↑ 2017 CL ERA leaders
  4. ↑ YakyuDB
  5. ↑ ibid.
  6. ↑ 2017 Japan Series
  7. ↑ 2019 CL ERA leaders
  8. ↑ 2019 NPB All-Star Game 1
  9. ↑ 2019 NPB MVP voting
  10. ↑ 2019 Premier 12
  11. ↑ Taiwan Baseball Wiki
  12. ↑ ibid.

Further Reading[edit]

  • David Adler: "Get to know Shōta Imanaga", mlb.com, November 11, 2023. [1]
  • David Adler: "How a 92 mph fastball became MLB's most valuable pitch", mlb.com, May 7, 2024. [2]
  • Jordan Bastian: "Cubs finalize 4-year deal with Japanese lefty Imanaga", mlb.com, January 11, 2024. [3]
  • Jordan Bastian: "'Hey Chicago, what do you say?' Officially a Cub, Imanaga sets eyes on winning", mlb.com, January 13, 2024. [4]
  • Jordan Bastian: "No ordinary rookie: Imanaga flirts with no-no, K's 9 in MLB debut", mlb.com, April 1, 2024. [5]
  • Jordan Bastian: "Scoreless streak ends, but Shota still has yet to allow an ER", mlb.com, April 14, 2024. [6]
  • Jordan Bastian: "Shota off to a start never seen before in Cubs history: Rookie impressing club as he improves to 4-0 with a 0.98 ERA to begin his MLB career", mlb.com, April 27, 2024. [7]
  • Jordan Bastian: "How Shota's unique personality won over fans, teammates instantly", mlb.com, August 14, 2024. [8]
  • Jordan Bastian: "Shota's 7 frames start Cubs' first no-no at Wrigley since 1972", mlb.com, September 5, 2024. [9]
  • Jordan Bastian: "Imanaga (who else?) will start for Cubs during Tokyo Series", mlb.com, February 10, 2025. [10]
  • Jordan Bastian: "Imanaga made all the right adjustments to excel in Majors", mlb.com, March 15, 2025. [11]
  • Casey Drottar: "Sho' good: Imanaga sets career high with 11 K's", mlb.com, September 17, 2024. [12]

Related Sites[edit]

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