Colonel William A. Phillips

Shōta Imanaga (今永 昇太, Imanaga Shōta, born September 1, 1993), nicknamed "The Throwing Philosopher", is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars from 2016 to 2023. Imanaga is a two-time NPB All-Star and he led the Central League in strikeouts in 2023 before signing with the Cubs during the 2023–24 offseason.

Career

Yokohama DeNA BayStars

The Yokohama DeNA BayStars selected Imanaga in the first round of the 2015 NPB draft out of Komazawa University.[1]

Imanaga signed with the Canberra Cavalry of the Australian Baseball League to play weeks 2–7 of the 2018–19 Australian Baseball League season[2] In his six starts for the Cavalry, he posted a 4–0 win–loss record with a league-best 0.51 earned run average (ERA) over 35 innings pitched with 57 strikeouts to one walk. By meeting the statistical recognition minimum (0.8IP per team game), Imanaga broke the league records for WHIP (0.429), H/9 (3.6), BB/9 (0.3) and second-best ERA behind Ryan Searle. Following his ABL stint, Imanaga posted a 13–7 2.91 ERA, 2019 Nippon Professional Baseball season, finishing second in wins and strikeouts only behind Shun Yamaguchi in the Central League.

On June 7, 2022, Imanaga pitched a no-hitter against the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters.[3]

On September 6, 2023, Yokohama announced that they would post Imanaga to Major League Baseball (MLB) following the 2023 season.[4]

Chicago Cubs

2024 season

On January 11, 2024, Imanaga signed a four-year, $53 million contract with the Chicago Cubs that also contained a fifth-year option.[5] The Cubs also had to pay $9.825 million to the Bay Stars in the form of a release fee.[6]

Imanaga pitched six shutout innings allowing just two hits with nine strikeouts in his first start for the Cubs on April 1, 2024.[7] In his first three starts, Imanaga finished with a 2–0 record, 15.1 innings pitched, 16 strikeouts, and no earned runs allowed.

As of April 27, Imanaga is 4-0 with a 0.98 ERA, second best in the MLB and trailing only Reynaldo López of the Atlanta Braves.

International career

Imanaga represented the Japan national baseball team in the 2019 exhibition games against Mexico and 2019 WBSC Premier12.[8][9]

Imanaga played for the Japanese national team at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and started the championship game in which Japan won 3–2.[10]

Playing style

Imanaga is a 5 ft 10 in, 175 lb left-handed pitcher throwing from a three-quarters arm angle.[11][12] He has a fastball averaging nearly 92 mph (tops out at 96 mph[13]),[14][15] changeup, curveball and slider in his repertoire.[16] He is not an overpowering hurler but finds success with his command and changeup.[17]

References

  1. ^ "2015年 新人選手選択会議(ドラフト会議) 横浜DeNAベイスターズ 選択選手一覧". NPB.jp 日本野球機構 (in Japanese).
  2. ^ "Japanese Major League Players Join the Cavalry". October 13, 2018. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
  3. ^ "BayStars Shota Imanaga hurls no-hitter as Fighters lose five straight". June 8, 2022.
  4. ^ "MLB Rumors: Shōta Imanaga to Be Posted in Free Agency; Won Gold with Japan at WBC". syndication.bleacherreport.com. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
  5. ^ Bastain, Jordan (January 11, 2024). "Cubs finalize 4-year deal with Japanese lefty Imanaga". MLB.com. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  6. ^ https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/sources-cubs-lefty-shota-imanaga-finalizing-4-year/story?id=106278211
  7. ^ Farkas, Brady (April 2, 2024). "Japanese Hurler Makes Rare Team History in Chicago Cubs Debut". Fastball. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  8. ^ "ENEOS 侍ジャパンシリーズ2019「日本 vs メキシコ」に出場するメンバー28名が決定". 野球日本代表 侍ジャパン オフィシャルサイト (in Japanese). February 18, 2019. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
  9. ^ "「ENEOS 侍ジャパンシリーズ2019」出場選手決定について". 野球日本代表 侍ジャパン オフィシャルサイト (in Japanese). October 1, 2019. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
  10. ^ "Japan starting Imanaga over Ohtani or Darvish in WBC final vs. United States". Sportsnet.ca. March 16, 2023. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  11. ^ https://www.mlb.com/player/shota-imanaga-684007
  12. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20190714080057/https://www.nhk.or.jp/kitakyushu-blog/100/288713.html
  13. ^ "【侍ジャパン】第2先発・今永昇太が3回1失点、毎回の3奪三振と好投 最速154キロを計測". スポーツ報知 (in Japanese). March 10, 2023. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
  14. ^ "BayStars southpaw Shota Imanaga drawing interest from MLB teams". The Japan Times. November 13, 2023. Retrieved December 21, 2023.
  15. ^ "Shota Imanaga: To be posted this offseason". CBSSports.com. October 9, 2023. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
  16. ^ Connon, Sam (September 6, 2023). "Japanese Pitcher Shōta Imanaga Will Reportedly Be Posted to MLB Teams This Offseason". Fastball. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
  17. ^ "Yokohama DeNa Baystars To Post Shota Imanaga". MLB Trade Rumors. September 6, 2023. Retrieved December 13, 2023.

External links

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sh%C5%8Dta_Imanaga