Cubs' Shota Imanaga continues to raise the bar, throws career-high 11 strikeouts in win against A's

09/16/2024 11:23 PM

A host of questions surrounded left-hander Shota Imanaga as he entered his rookie season.

How would he handle all that came with the transition from Japan to the United States? How would his stuff play against MLB hitters? How would he adjust to a different ball, strikezone, 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 win Monday against the A's. "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 set a new career high with 11 strikeouts on Monday. The A's managed just two runs off him in six innings.

Imanaga has up to two more starts to go in what has already been an All-Star rookie season that's exceeded expectations. And those starts will put the finishing touches on Imanaga's answer to how he'd fare pitching on a demanding MLB 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."

Already in September, Imanaga had pitched seven innings of a combined no-hitter against the Pirates. He followed up that stunning performance by holding a fearsome Dodgers to three runs through seven innings in Los Angeles.

"In spring training, I talked with Craig about the importance of being able to pitch throughout the season, into September," Imanaga said through interpreter Edwin Stanberry, adding that he set a goal of 162 innings pitched, 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 walks per nine innings, the fourth-best mark among qualified pitchers – as evidence of Imanga's 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."

When the question became, will Imanaga be able to stay ahead of hitters even when teams have more information on him, Imanaga answered it with a resounding, yes. If his consistency throughout the season wasn't enough proof, in those recent impressive outings against the Pirates and Dodgers, Imanaga was facing both teams for the second time this year.

On Monday, Imanaga's offense gave him an early big lead to work with. The Cubs scored in each of the first four innings to spot him nine runs.

Though Imanaga had a three-walk game for just the second time this season, he continued to lean into his strengths, with a little tweak.

"The changes are more subtle," Counsell said of Imanaga's adjustments throughout the season. "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 expected the A's to be aggressive, especially on his fastball. So he disrupted that approach.

His unflappable mound presence was especially on display in the third inning. He'd had a lot of time to kill between innings as the Cubs batted through the order and put together a five-run rally in the bottom of the second.

When Imanaga finally jogged back on the field, he walked the first batter he faced, leadoff hitter Jacob Wilson. Then Imanaga 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. He didn't allow another run.

"It's a grind here, the amount of games we play, the frequency in which we play," said Dansby Swanson, who went 2-for-5 Monday with a home run and four RBI. "And he's 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."