CHICAGO -- Shota Imanaga authored one of the great rookie seasons in the long, storied history of the Cubs this year. Now, the left-hander has been rewarded by baseball fans and a panel of experts with a place on the 2024 All-MLB Team presented by MGM Rewards.
As part of Thursday’s All-MLB Awards Show, Imanaga was voted onto the All-MLB Second Team for his performance this past season with the Cubs. That follows his stellar showing in ‘24 for Chicago, which included a place on the National League All-Star team and a part in the first Cubs no-hitter at Wrigley Field since 1972.
“I'm not sure he can do much better than last year,” president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said during the General Managers Meetings in San Antonio earlier this month. “He had such a great year.”
Imanaga was named to the All-MLB Second Team, along with starters Seth Lugo (Royals), Dylan Cease (Padres), Framber Valdez (Astros) and Michael King (Padres). The starting pitchers voted onto the All-MLB First Team included Chris Sale (Braves), Tarik Skubal (Tigers), Paul Skenes (Pirates), Zack Wheeler (Phillies) and Corbin Burnes (Orioles).
Last offseason, Imanaga joined the Cubs via a four-year, $53 million contract after starring for Yokohama in Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan and helping Team Japan capture gold in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. Nicknamed “The Throwing Philosopher” in Japan, Imanaga quickly showed his ability to learn, adapt and execute on the Major League stage.
Overall, the 31-year-old Imanaga finished his rookie tour 15-3 with a 2.91 ERA in 29 starts for the Cubs. He was tied with Luis Gil of the Yankees for the most wins by a rookie, while leading all Major League rookies in both strikeouts (174) and innings (173 1/3). Imanaga’s 6.2 strikeout-to-walk ratio led all qualified pitchers in the NL.
Imanaga began his season by going 5-0 with a 0.84 ERA in his first nine starts, picking up the NL’s Rookie of the Month Award for March-April in the process. The lefty also set the record for lowest ERA through a starting pitcher’s first nine turns (since 1913, excluding openers), topping the 0.91 mark spun by Fernando Valenzuela in his brilliant ‘81 campaign with the Dodgers.
On Sept. 4, Imanaga logged seven scoreless innings to begin a combined no-hitter against the Pirates, marking the first no-no for the Cubs at Wrigley Field in more than 50 years. That outing was part of a strong finish by Imanaga, who went 6-0 with a 2.25 ERA in his final six turns of the season for the North Siders.