The Chicago Cubs have played their way into the postseason picture as the team has heated up over the second half of the season. On Wednesday the Cubs spun a combined no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Rookie sensation Shota Imanaga tossed seven scoreless frames before Chicago manager Craig Counsell made the difficult decision to pull the first-year lefty.
“It’s always hard to do in that situation… it’s 100% about taking care of Shota and making sure we’re doing the right thing for him,” Counsell said after the game via Marquee Sports Network. Counsell acknowledged that “it’s not fun” but the team was “prioritizing the player’s health” by removing the pitcher from the game in the midst of a no-hit bid in the seventh inning.
Imanaga was brilliant Wednesday night, allowing no hits and no runs with two walks and seven strikeouts in seven innings. He was relieved by Nate Pearson in the eighth and Porter Hodge came on in the ninth. The Cubs bullpen tossed two perfect innings to complete the combined no-hitter.
The Cubs beat the Pirates 12-0 and recorded the franchise’s 18th no-hitter. It’s their first no-no since another combined effort in 2021 and the first at Wrigley Field since 1972. It's the fourth no-hitter this season, per ESPN’s game recap. San Francisco Giants ace Blake Snell most recently accomplished the feat on August 2 against the Cincinnati Reds.
“We want [Imanaga] to stay healthy, he’s had a career high in innings… He actually didn’t know he had a no-hitter going at all, which is funny,” Counsell explained via Marquee Sports Network. “[Pitching coach] Tommy [Hottovy] and I talked about [removing Imanaga], we considered it frankly after the sixth inning. But that was for us the right thing to do.”
Shota Imanaga has been a revelation for the Cubs
Imanaga is having an excellent debut season in MLB. He signed a four-year, $53 million contract with the Cubs in the offseason. With Wednesday’s remarkable performance, he’s improved to 12-3 on the year with a 2.99 ERA, 155 strikeouts in 153.1 innings and 2.4 bWAR in 26 starts for Chicago. Imanaga made the All-Star Game as a rookie.
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The Cubs have gone 25-17 since returning from the All-Star break, which is the sixth-best record in baseball during that stretch. The team is now four games above .500. Still, Chicago remains nine games behind the first-place Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central.
However, the Cubs are 4.5 games back in the NL Wild Card standings with only the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves ahead of them for the final postseason berth. Chicago’s hot play over the second half of the season has the team up to number 14 in the most recent MLB Power Rankings.
Cubs fans certainly believe there’s a chance the team makes the playoffs this year. Perhaps saving Imanaga’s arm at the expense of a no-hitter will pay dividends down the stretch as the team pushes for the postseason.
