CHICAGO – Shota Imanaga’s last pitch on Friday afternoon was a fastball at the bottom edge of the strike zone. The heater popped into the mitt of Cubs catcher Carson Kelly, Pirates third baseman Nick Yorke did not offer a swing and Imanaga gave a confident nod of his head as he headed back to the dugout.
Imanaga had a no-hitter intact through six innings, but that would be the final touch on his brilliant performance. His pitch count had reached the century mark, necessitating a call to the bullpen for Cubs manager Craig Counsell.
“That was the right decision,” Imanaga said via interpreter Edwin Stanberry.
The no-hitter that Imanaga was crafting went by the wayside in the seventh and the Cubs wound up with a 2-0 loss at the hands of the Pirates at Wrigley Field. That was a disappointing conclusion to a game that teased a repeating of history at the Friendly Confines. It was Imanaga, after all, who led a combined no-hitter against Pittsburgh just two years ago.
On Sept. 4, 2024, Imanaga turned in seven no-hit innings against the Pirates before bowing out. Relievers Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge finished the job on that night, carving their place in team history with the 18th no-hitter on the books for the Cubs. The Pirates avoided a similar script on Friday.
Counsell kept the big picture in mind by pulling Imanaga.
“It’s just, ‘What’s next? Where do you stop?’ You know?” said the manager. “And then, ‘What does it do for his next start?’ There’s not a path to finish that game. There’s danger in making that a 120-pitch outing on his third start of the year. Easy decision.”
In the seventh, veteran lefty Caleb Thielbar took over and yielded a leadoff single to Ryan O’Hearn, followed by a first-pitch, two-run homer to Bryan Reynolds. That was that, given the offensive outage happening on the other side for the North Siders.
The Cubs had at least one baserunner aboard in seven innings. Chicago had eight hard-hit balls in play (95 mph exit velocity or higher), with four resulting in a hit. The Cubs worked seven walks and only struck out six times on the day. They loaded the bases twice and had eight at-bats overall with runners in scoring position, but recorded no hits in those spots.
“You do a lot of things right,” Counsell said. “And then you walk away and you’re just, ‘How did we not score today? How do we have a zero on the board?’ So, it’s frustrating.”
Especially so, given Imanaga’s effort.
Imanaga walked off the mound with nine strikeouts and only one walk issued in his six-inning gem, which lowered his career ERA to 0.28 against the Pirates. In their five meetings, the lefty has limited Pittsburgh to one run over 32 frames, racking up 32 strikeouts against seven walks with only 13 hits allowed in total.
Three starts into the season, Imanaga has a 2.81 ERA that is especially marred by a three-run homer given up to Washington’s Joey Wiemer in his first inning of the year on March 29. There is no tossing that out, but still, the lefty has shown an uptick in velocity, a propensity for swing-and-miss and has amassed 20 strikeouts this season, compared to four walks, in 16 innings out of the gates.
“I feel like after every pitch,” Imanaga said, “analyzing what the shape of the pitch I just threw was, and what the ideal shape is, making those adjustments pitch-by-pitch, I think that has helped a lot.”
“Shota,” Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said recently, “I think his stuff is better. I do. And I think you’re going to see it more in the swing-and-miss than anything else.”
In this outing, Imanaga also piled up a season-high 18 swinging strikes, marking the fourth time this year (including Spring Training) that he has reached at least 17 in a game. He generated an absurd 25 whiffs in a Cactus League start against the Angels on March 17. Imanaga managed at least 17 whiffs just once in ‘25 (19 on Sept. 14). The lefty did so 11 times in ‘24.
That ‘24 campaign ended with Imanaga garnering votes for both the National League Cy Young and Rookie of the Year awards, while also making his first All-Star team. Early on this year, Imanaga looks revitalized and capable of recapturing that form.
How big would that be for the Cubs?
“It’s very important,” Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki said via Stanberry. “I faced him in Spring Training and saw the fastball. There’s a lot behind it. I think for him, just being able to continue and continue to produce, that’s very important for the team.”