Shota Imanaga Dominates in MLB Debut

In an offseason dominated by the likes of Shohei Ohtani, Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Josh Hader, one of the biggest wild cards was left-hander Shota Imanaga. The list of potential suitors was long, but it was unclear just how well he’d perform once he started his new career in the States.

Of course, Imanaga settled on the Chicago Cubs, signing a four-year deal with a club hoping to win the NL Central for the first time since 2020 and the first time in a full season since 2017.

For a full breakdown of Imanaga’s stuff and an in-depth scouting report, check out the rundown from Just Baseball’s Aram Leighton here.

As we’ve seen from Yamamoto’s first two MLB outings, success overseas doesn’t always translate to the big leagues here. At least not immediately. There is almost always a rather significant adjustment period when switching leagues.

In Yamamoto’s case, he had a down spring, struggled in his big league debut and then dazzled in his second start.

For Imanaga? He didn’t wait until his second start to show that he means business. The 30-year-old made his MLB debut on Monday and things went about as well as they could’ve for him.

Shota Imanaga Announces His Presence in a Big Way

Taking on a Colorado Rockies squad that isn’t necessarily known for their offensive prowess, Imanaga dominated. Very rarely do we see a pitcher run the game quite like we saw out of the Japanese southpaw.

Shota Imanaga dazzles in his Major Leagut Debut at Wrigley Field!

6 IP
2 H
0 R
0 BB
9 K 🔥

He just put the league on notice! pic.twitter.com/7nexZPP8O4

— Just Baseball (@JustBB_Media) April 1, 2024

In six innings of work, Imanaga struck out nine batters and didn’t allow a single walk. As a matter of fact, the Rockies didn’t have a single base hit until the top of the 6th inning when Charlie Blackmon and Brendan Rodgers hit back-to-back singles.

Prior to that, Imanaga was untouchable. He threw just 92 pitches on the day but he had a whopping 20 whiffs and, according to Baseball-Reference, tied Hideki Irabu for second-most strikeouts in an MLB debut by a Japanese hurler. The names in front of him? Kazuhisa Ishii and Daisuke Mastuzaka, a pair of Japanese legends in their own rights.

Further, Imanaga became just the second pitcher in the modern era to strikeout nine or more batters without any walks or runs allowed in his MLB debut. He leaned heavily on his four-seam fastball and signature breaking pitches (splitter, sweeper) to excellent results. The guy was utterly ridiculous in the best way.

What’s Next For the Cubs?

The NL Central is wide open for a team like the Cubs to step up and steal the show. The Pirates and Brewers are not going to be able to keep rolling the way they have (both teams are undefeated), so the Cubs need to be there when the regression hits.

At this point, the Reds appear to be Chicago’s top competition for the division. On paper, they have one of the deeper rosters in the Central, even after losing many regular contributors to injury.

What’s next for the Cubs exactly? They just need to keep rolling. Patrick Wisdom and a trio consisting of Caleb Kilian, Justin Steele and Jameson Taillon are all currently on the injured list, but there’s no room for error here. The club needs to put the pedal to the metal and do what they can to string wins together without some of their top players.

Getting this outstanding from Imanaga is just the shot of momentum the Cubs needed. If he’s able to continue to impress now that he’s made his transition to the States, we’re talking about an All-Star and Rookie of the Year contender right off the bat. The sky is the limit for where this team can go if all of the pieces are working together properly.