Brandon Brown
Runs were a rarity Saturday at Wrigley Field, as the host Cubs cruised to a 1-0 victory over the Pirates. The game was scoreless until the ninth when Cody Bellinger raced home from second on a Christopher Morel game-winning single that was confirmed on replay:
Despite the last-second dramas, the real story of Saturday’s game was the continued dominance of left-hander Shota Imanaga, the Cubs’ 30-year-old rookie ace. The numbers:
Of Imanaga’s 88 pitches, a whopping 68 were for strikes. He also recorded nine ground-outs against five fly-outs and induced an impressive 22 swings and errors. Imanaga has a pair of breaking balls in his repertoire, but he leans heavily on his fastball and splitter. That was especially the case against Pittsburgh, as 84 of their 88 pitchers were the heater or split changeup. “Heat,” of course, is a relative term, as Imanaga’s fastball tops out at a below-average 90 mph. However, his ball is a “rising” fastball (in reality, fastballs don’t rise, but some, like Imanaga’s, respond to gravity much less than the hitter anticipates, giving them a rising appearance). , and this is a coveted skill among pitchers. nowadays. Imanaga continues to use this pair of offerings to great effect.
Imanaga has worked 53 ⅔ innings with 58 strikeouts against just nine walks. As for his ERA, Saturday’s seven goals brought it down to 0.84. This number, it turns out, is historic. As Sarah Langs notes:
Put another way, the start of Imanaga’s career was almost perfect.
The Cubs signed Imanaga from Japan last offseason to a four-year contract worth $53 million, with options that could bring the total value to $80 million. So far, this has proven to be a colossal bargain from the club’s point of view.
There were some concerns about Imanaga, which likely served to diminish its market in the United States. Primarily, his fly ball tendencies in Japan led to elevated home run rates in a league not known for its power. How would this translate MLB, which is a much more power-oriented league? So far, the answer is quite simple. Strength and durability will continue to be potential concerns as the season deepens, but for now, the reality is that Imanaga has been dominant and the rotation stabilizer the Cubs so desperately needed, given Kyle Hendricks’ deep struggles and the hamstring injury that cost Justin Steele more than a month of starts.
It’s too early to ask such a thing, but can Imanaga claim the Cy Young award as a rookie? After nine games, he is on track to do just that. It is worth noting that only one other pitcher has achieved this feat: the aforementioned Fernando Valenzuela in 1981.
