Suzuki, Imanaga redemption arcs in focus as postseason nears

CHICAGO – The Cubs would gladly welcome the kind of tape-measure shots that Seiya Suzuki launched into the North Side night on Thursday once he steps onto the postseason stage. The power he displayed had gone missing for months, sapping the slug from the heart of Chicago’s order.

Suzuki connected for a pair of home runs in an effort to ignite a comeback, but the Cubs fell short in an 8-5 loss to the Mets at Wrigley Field. Shota Imanaga also had trouble with the long ball, allowing one to Francisco Lindor and another to Brett Baty in a rough regular-season finale for the Cubs lefty.

They both know that October offers an opportunity to overshadow the season’s ups and downs.

"Looking at the playoffs, if you perform well, people remember it,” Imanaga said via interpreter Edwin Stanberry. “And if you don’t, the season’s almost a waste. And I feel like with me and Seiya, I want to look back and think about it, that we did great in the playoffs.”

With the loss, the Cubs saw their cushion over the Padres for the top National League Wild Card spot reduced to two games with three to play. If Chicago can maintain its lead in that race, it will host the best-of-three Wild Card Series against San Diego at Wrigley Field, beginning on Tuesday.

Suzuki delivered both of his blasts -- Nos. 28 and 29 on the season -- against Mets rookie righty Nolan McLean, who headed into the evening with a 1.27 ERA in his first seven starts. In the fourth, Suzuki hammered a 2-2 changeup to deep left with a 108.4 mph exit velocity. Then in the sixth, he crushed an 0-1 sweeper that was inside and off the plate, sending it out to left for a three-run homer.

"That’s a real positive note on the night, for Seiya to hit a couple home runs,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “I think just seeing some balls go out of the park, frankly, for him is something he needed. So, a good night and an important night.”

What did that feel like for Suzuki?

“It’s been a while,” Suzuki said via Stanberry. “So it felt interesting.”

Suzuki had not homered since Aug. 6, and his two-homer outburst matched the amount of blasts he had in his previous 61 games combined, during which he managed only a .278 slugging percentage and a .608 OPS. In his first 86 games of the season, Suzuki belted 25 homers, slugged .561 and posted an .880 OPS in one of the best stretches of his career.

"Looking at the first half, I think how I performed was before my own expectations,” Suzuki said. “And then I think the second half, especially when I wasn’t performing well, I was trying to figure out what I was doing in the first half and trying to replicate that.

“I think more recently, there’s more of just not putting too much care in that and just going up there and taking the best swings I can. I think that’s helped.”

Suzuki and Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong now have five multihomer games apiece this season. Prior to this year, the North Siders did not have even one player with at least that many multihomer showings since 2005, when Derrek Lee had eight such games.

Imanaga was charged with eight runs in the loss, giving him a 3.73 ERA on the season. The Mets were hitting the lefty hard, as evidenced by his four-seamer, sweeper and sinker each producing an average exit velocity north of 100 mph on the night. Baty’s three-run shot in the fourth helped swing the momentum New York’s way as the club tries to secure a spot in the playoff picture as well.

"He just wasn’t sharp today,” Counsell said. “Early, there just wasn’t much execution. When he got chances to make putaway pitches, he didn’t get the putaway pitch.”

Over the next few days, Imanaga plans on poring over his outing and tackling some adjustments as he prepares for the Wild Card Series. As things stand, he would be a leading candidate to start one of the games in the best-of-three set against the Padres.

“If I said I was confident,” Imanaga said, “I think people hearing that would just think I’m just trying to be optimistic. But I think within the next coming days, I just want to do all the adjustments that I need to make to regain that confidence.”

Suzuki is hoping Thursday’s performance can help his confidence level, too.

“The last couple days, my performance hasn’t been bad,” Suzuki said. “So, I think just looking back, I’ve caused a lot of trouble with my performance. Hopefully moving into the playoffs, I can have confidence and perform well.”