Cubs Pitcher Shota Imanaga Remains Unhittable
There have been any number of impressive performances to start the 2024 Major League Baseball season. On Friday, for example, top prospect Paul Skenes no-hit the Chicago Cubs for six innings, striking out the first seven batters of the game and 11 overall.
READ: Paul Skenes Throws Six No-Hit Innings In Second Start, Strikes Out Seven Straight
Shohei Ohtani has also been his usual self, tied with Mookie Betts atop the Fangraphs wins above replacement leaderboard.
But one of the most under-the-radar stories of the first two months has been Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga. Imanaga, in his first season in the United States, has been virtually unhittable through his first nine starts. And he continued that exceptional dominance on Saturday, pitching seven more shutout innings against the Pirates, allowing just four hits and one walk with seven strikeouts.
And it's cementing one of the best first halves of a season we've ever seen.
Boston - Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Shota Imanaga walks onto the field before the start of the game against the Boston Red Sox on April 26 at Fenway Park. Photo: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
Shota Imanaga Tearing Through MLB
Imanaga's stats read something like a video game:
- 0.84 ERA
- 5-0 record
- Five total earned runs allowed
- Just nine walks allowed in 53 innings
- 40 hits allowed
- 58 strikeouts
What might be most impressive though is that Imanaga's allowed three home runs; five earned runs allowed and three homers. It's really, really hard to score on Shota Imanaga so far this season.
Unsurprisingly, he leads the league in ERA; an even more impressive feat considering it's his first time pitching in MLB.
It's hard enough to believe someone in his debut season is the early frontrunner to start the All Star Game, let alone the early Cy Young favorite. Yet that's exactly where Imanaga finds himself through late-May. Between him and Mason Miller, there's a whole lot of dominance happening without people noticing it.