Chicago Cubs LHP Shota Imanaga First Start On East Coast

Shota Imanaga #18 of the Chicago Cubs pitches. (Photo by Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Boston, MA – Under the lights at Fenway Park, with Chicago Cubs Japanese southpaw starting pitcher Shota Imanaga’s first start on the East Coast, the North Side ball club beat the Boston Red Sox 7-1 on Friday night in the first game of their three-game series in front of 31,801 fans in attendance.

Imanaga pitched 6.1 innings, allowing five hits, one earned run, and one walk, striking out seven batters while facing 26 batters and throwing 88 pitches during his Friday night start.

He allowed his first hit of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning with one out as Red Sox right fielder Tyler O’Neill drove a 92.8 mph fastball over the center field wall that went 403 feet for Boston’s lone run.

Cubs manager Craig Counsell took Imanaga out in the bottom of the seventh inning and called upon relief pitcher Keegan Thompson.

Imanaga made his Major League Baseball debut on April 1 at home against the Colorado Rockies. Imanaga’s other big league starts were at home against the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 7, on the road against the Seattle Mariners on April 13, and at home against the Miami Marlins on April 20.

The left-hander is now 4-0 on the season, and his ERA is currently at 0.98.

Before his start at Fenway, Imanaga was 3-0 with a 0.84 ERA in four starts. He pitched 21.1 innings, allowing four hits, two earned runs, one home run, two walks, 21 strikeouts, and a 0.750 WHIP.

Red Sox right-handed pitcher Kutter Crawford started in five games and posted a 0.66 ERA while leading the majors; his record was 1-0. He threw 27.1 innings, allowing 16 hits, two earned runs, 11 walks, 30 strikeouts, and a 0.988 WHIP coming into Friday night.

Crawford threw six innings, allowed 10 hits, three earned runs, and struck out four.

Crawford is now 1-1 with a 1.35 ERA in the first month of the regular season.

Red Sox left fielder, and Japanese countryman Masataka Yoshida has not started since April 20 on the road against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The left-handed hitter is batting .233, playing in 23 games with 73 at-bats and recording 17 hits, two doubles, two home runs, 10 RBI, six walks, and 11 strikeouts to start the 2024 season.

Yoshida is 3-for-16 with a homer and 4 RBIs in 18 plate appearances against left-handed pitchers this season.

Imanaga, 30, was born in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan, and played with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in Nippon Professional Baseball from 2016-23 before he signed on January 11 to the Cubs for a four-year, $53 million contract that also includes a fifth-year option.

The Cubs had to pay a $9.825 million release fee to the Yokohama DeNA BayStars to receive Imanaga.

During spring training, Imanaga started in four games and posted a 2-2 record with a 5.68 ERA, throwing 12.2 innings, allowing 18 hits, eight earned runs, two home runs, three walks, and 25 strikeouts.

Last season with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars, he posted a 7-4 record with a 2.80 ERA in 22 starts, throwing 148 innings, allowing 132 hits, 46 earned runs, 17 home runs, 24 walks, striking out 174 batters, and 1.054 WHIP.

In Japan, Imanaga was a two-time All-Star in 2019 and 2023, led the Central League in strikeouts in 2019, and pitched a no-hitter on June 7, 2022, against the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters on the road at the Sapporo Dome.

Imanaga played for the Japanese national team at the 2023 World Baseball Classic and helped the nation win their third gold medal, beating the United States 3-2 in the championship game at loanDepot Park in Miami.

Imanaga went 1-0 at the 2023 WBC and started one game with two bullpen appearances, posting a 3.00 ERA, throwing six innings, allowing seven hits, two earned runs, two home runs, and striking out seven.

During his eight seasons in NPB, Imanaga has a 64-50 lifetime record with a 3.18 ERA in 165 appearances with 13 complete games, seven shutouts, throwing 1,002.2 innings, allowing 841 hits, 354 earned runs, 114 home runs, 280 walks, 1,021 strikeouts, and a 1.118 WHIP.

The (14-13) Red Sox will play the second game of their three-game series at home against the (17-9) Cubs on April 27 at 4:10 p.m. EST. The Red Sox are three games back of the first-place (17-10) New York Yankees in the American League East Division. The Cubs are a half-game back of the (17-8) Milwaukee Brewers for first place in the National League Central Division.

 

World Baseball Network Q&A On iMessage With JapanBall Supporter & Yokohama DeNA BayStars Fan Frank Correa From Manhattan, N.Y.:

 

1. What does it mean to be a BayStars fan and see a pitcher like Imanaga have such a great start to his MLB career? 

 

“It is really great to see players that fans in Yokohama saw drafted and then grew up with, in the case of Imanaga, the first real ACE pitcher from the Baystars to go to MLB, before him, you had Sasaki, but he was a relief pitcher.”

 

2. With players like him and Seiya Suzuki on the same team, How much does this affect the Japanese presence in the current state of the league? 

 

“It’s a Testament to the quality of NPB to have all these players come into MLB with such fanfare, like  Yamamoto, Imanaga and Matsui that all came over this past offseason and have had success so far. Many people call NPB a “AAAA” league but these NPB players come to MLB and have success, and ex MLB players go to Japan and don’t, Rougned Odor being the latest example of that.”

 

3. With Imanaga having his first start on the east coast at a ballpark like Fenway, how much do you think fans from our region can have an interest for a guy like Shota? 

 

“I think in the east coast, the lights shine brighter and they will in Fenway Park, which not only has a Japanese community, but also a history of Japanese players not only playing there, but winning MLB Championships there. Right after Boston, he heads to New York so all eyes will definitely be on him these next few days, but I am confident he will shine, as he always has, regardless if he is wearing a Baystars, Samurai Japan or Cubs uniform.”