Questions surrounded left-hander Shota Imanaga as he entered his rookie season: How would he handle all that came with the transition from Japan? How would his stuff play against MLB hitters? How would he adjust to a different ball, a different strike zone, a different mound, a pitch clock?
“He’s passed every test — and every question that we’ve tried to ask, even, about him — really, really well,” manager Craig Counsell said before the Cubs’ 9-2 victory over the Athletics on Monday night at Wrigley Field. “But I think, at the base of it is, what Shota’s good at works. The other thing that he’s probably shown to us on such a consistent basis is how good he is at what he’s good at.”
Imanaga (14-3) set a new career high with 11 strikeouts. The A’s managed five hits and two runs off him in six innings.
He has up to two more starts remaining in what already has been an All-Star rookie season beyond expectations. Those starts will be the finishing touches in answering one of the earliest questions: how he’d fare on a demanding MLB pitching schedule.
“That’s maybe the final part of the season test for him,” Counsell said. “And pitching some of his best baseball in the month of September, I think he’s showing us that. So that’s been awesome as well.”
Even before Monday, Imanaga’s Sep-tember included pitching seven innings in a combined no-hitter against the Pirates, followed by holding the Dodgers to three runs through seven innings.
“In spring training, I talked with Craig about the importance of being able to pitch throughout the season, into September,” Imanaga said through an interpreter, adding that he set a goal of 162 innings, a mark he passed Monday. “He’s been very helpful in how he manages with me staying healthy and being able to throw the innings that I can.”
Counsell pointed to Imanaga’s lack of walks — he entered Monday with 1.40 per nine innings, fourth-best among qualified pitchers — as evidence of his strengths playing well.
“He’s attacking the strike zone, and his stuff works in the strike zone,” Counsell said. “And that’s what the good pitchers can do.”
Later, the question became: Can Imanaga stay ahead of hitters even when teams have more info on him? He answered with a resounding yes. If his consistency isn’t evidence enough, consider that in both recent outings against the Pirates and Dodgers, he was facing them for the second time this season.
On Monday, the Cubs’ offense gave him an early big lead to work with, scoring in each of the first four innings to spot him nine runs.
And although he had a three-walk game for just the second time, he continued to lean into his strengths, with a small tweak.
“The changes are more subtle,” Counsell said. “It’s a night like tonight where you go to your split finger a little more than the fastball, and that’s just a very subtle change.”
Imanaga’s unflappable presence was especially on display in the third inning. He’d had a lot of time to kill as the Cubs batted through their order and put together a five-run rally in the bottom of the second. After he finally jogged back onto the field, he walked the first batter he faced, A’s leadoff hitter Jacob Wilson. Then he gave up a two-run homer to slugger Brent Rooker.
No problem. Imanaga struck out the next three batters to get out of the inning and didn’t allow another run.
“It’s a grind here, the amount of games we play, the frequency in which we play,” said shortstop Dansby Swanson, who went 2-for-5 with a three-run homer in the second and four RBI. “And [Imanaga has] handled it so well. He’s been pretty tremendous for us. It’s fun to watch him compete and continue to evolve as a pitcher.”