The Chicago Cubs, entering their Wednesday night contest against division rival Milwaukee Brewers haven't been playing their best ball as of late. They have lost seven out of their past 10 games, and it's not like their slate is getting any easier, as they would be up against the current leader of the NL Central. But the Cubs had plenty of reason to be confident on Wednesday. After all, they would be giving the ball to Shota Imanaga, the veteran pitcher in the first year of his MLB career who has been on a tear through his first nine big league starts.
Imanaga, through his first 53.2 innings in the majors, has allowed a grand total of five earned runs, which is good for an ERA of 0.89 — an elite stat if there ever was one. In fact, over his past two starts, the Cubs starter blanked his opponents completely through 12 innings. Alas, the Brewers showed, in a major way, that they are the class of the division. They clubbered Imanaga, peppering him to the tune of seven earned runs on eight hits in 4.1 innings — which was “good” for a 14.54 ERA on the night. Suffice to say, the Cubs lost. (Milwaukee won 10-7.)
Shota Imanaga has done nothing but turn heads after going off to as good of a start to his MLB career as he can have. But on Wednesday, Imanaga surprised the world by showing that he, indeed, is a human being who has his fair share of off nights.
“Just saw Imanaga’s pitching line and fell to my knees in the Lowe’s Home Improvement,” @FoolishBB wrote on Twitter (X). “Shoutout Shota Imanaga for having the worst start of his career the day I put my entire life on him,” a fan added.
Cubs' division rivals feast on Shota Imanaga's rough night
The 30-year old Japanese international was supposed to pitch against the St. Louis Cardinals last Friday. Instead, he had nine full days of rest before he faced off against the Brewers. Perhaps that did him no good, although Cardinals fans felt a bit of karmic justice that their NL Central brethren finally got to the burgeoning Cubs star.
“Imanaga dodged the Cardinals just to get shelled by the Brewers you love to see it,” @joshjacoMLB of FanSided's Redbird Rants wrote.
Brewers fans were, of course, elated to see their team be the one to bring out the human side of Shota Imanaga — especially when he's been the major saving grace of a Cubs team that's been struggling recently.
“I thought Shota Imanaga was supposed to be good?” a Brewers fan asked in jest.
IMANAGA REGRESSION IS HERE
At the end of the day, Shota Imanaga is still having one heck of a season. Despite giving up seven earned runs to the Brewers, the Cubs star's ERA is still squarely in elite territory. With a 1.86 ERA despite the rough outing he had on Wednesday, it figures that the 30-year old will be back to his dominant ways sooner or later, unless the Brewers figured out something in Imanaga that other teams could exploit as well.
The Brewers got to Shota Imanaga today: 4.1 IP, 8 H, 7 ER, 1 BB, 1 K. His ERA is now 1.86
As things stand, Shota Imanaga will have a chance to lower his ERA; if the Cubs' starting rotation order holds, Imanaga is likely to take the bump next against their rival from the South Side, the Chicago White Sox, on June 4. The White Sox are absolutely putrid at 15-42; if Imanaga struggles against them, then that might be the time to sound the alarm bells.
