When the season ended, there was never a question if Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Shota Imanaga would win the NL Rookie of the Year award.
Despite putting together an incredible debut year with a 2.91 ERA and 137 ERA+ across his 29 starts after coming over from Japan last winter, he was not a finalist.
Instead, the voting came down to pitching phenom Paul Skenes, breakout star Jackson Merrill and late-riser Jackson Chourio, where Skenes was ultimately named the winner after taking home 23 of the 30 first place votes.
Imanaga finished fourth, earning three third place votes to give him that distinction.
At one point this season, Imanaga looked like a runaway favorite to win this award after he was putting up starts that hadn't been seen since Fernando Valenzuela was named Rookie of the Year and the Cy Young winner in the same season.
But after some struggles in June where he gave up 17 earned runs in 27 innings pitched, that cracked open the door for these other players to shine where Skenes performed at such a high level he seemed like a shoe in to take home this award.
While not winning might sting a bit, this type of performance might not even have been imagined by the Cubs when they signed him to a four-year, $53 million contract last winter.
Imanaga was seen as the secondary international prize behind fellow countryman Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but he surpassed all expectations when he outperformed the phenom during their rookie campaigns.
Going forward, the left-hander has cemented himself as someone who will be at the top of Chicago's rotation throughout the remainder of this deal, hopefully playing a major part in this franchise getting back into the playoffs and competing for division titles and championships.
