Cubs’ Shota Imanaga Tosses Five Scoreless Innings in Return From IL
The Chicago Cubs received a massive boost on the pitching front during Thursday’s series finale against the St. Louis Cardinals, officially marking the return of ace Shota Imanaga.
It had been nearly two months since Imanaga – who was activated from the 15-day IL prior to first pitch – made his last start with the team on May 4th. He injured his left hamstring while running to cover first base on a play that ultimately sidelined him indefinitely.
But the 2024 All-Star made his triumphant return at Busch Stadium during the afternoon affair. Before the game, reliever Michael Fulmer was designated for assignment to make room on the active roster.
Imanaga looked like his old self despite the lengthy absence, twirling five scoreless innings of one-hit, one-walk ball while striking out three on 77 pitches (49 strikes). He retired 15 of his 17 batters faced, including 14 of his final 15.
“He controlled the environment,” manager Craig Counsell told reporters post-game, including MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian. “It looked like he’d been out there every single start. I think there’s a tendency to get a little over-amped in a start like that, and I thought he controlled his effort level really well, his energy really well and that caused a lot of really good execution.”
The lone hit against Imanaga came via an infield single from Masyn Winn in the bottom of the first inning. But other than allowing a walk in the fourth, it was smooth sailing for the left-hander, who induced plenty of soft contact – 10 of the 12 balls put in play against him produced an exit velocity slower than 95 mph.
Though he admittedly didn’t have his best stuff, as his fastball – which he threw nearly two-thirds of the time – averaged half a tick slower than his season average (91.1 mph), it didn’t seem to matter for the Japanese hurler. His command was sharp enough on its own to hold St. Louis’ lineup in check across five shutout frames.
“It was really good,” Imanaga said via team interpreter Edwin Stanberry. “I was very grateful, because during my rehab process, the team was playing really well. So today, I didn’t really feel like my first start coming back from rehab. It was just, ‘OK, let’s even up the series.’ I’m very grateful.”
And even up the series they did, as the Cubs came away with a 3-0 shutout victory on Thursday, winning the final of a four-game series versus the Cardinals.
Before rejoining Chicago’s staff, Imanaga made a trio of rehab starts, two in the Arizona Complex League and the other with Triple-A Iowa. He didn’t allow a run in any of those contests, logging 10.1 scoreless innings, surrendering six hits and two walks while striking out 16 – half of which came in his final minor-league outing on June 20.
The Cubs didn’t miss a beat while Imanaga was away, as they enter Friday’s slate leading the NL Central at 48-33. But now that he’s back, they need him to help lead their rotation again, just as he did prior to hitting the IL.
In nine starts this season, the 31-year-old owns an impressive 2.54 ERA with 37 strikeouts across 49.2 innings of work, with opponents hitting just .197 against him.
That’s precisely where Imanaga left off during his rookie season in 2024, which consisted of a 2.91 ERA, 3.72 FIP and 174 strikeouts, accounting for 3.0 fWAR – tied with Justin Steele for the highest amongst Cubs pitchers.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @Hall_Thomas_
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