Farhan Zaidi addresses Giants’ hesitant Shota Imanaga pursuit, emphasizes 'weak scouting reports' amid Japanese Star’s emergence
The San Francisco Giants conceded the series to the Arizona Diamondbacks after an 8-5 defeat on Tuesday. The NL West team is struggling to keep pace with their division rivals but things could have been different had they signed one of their free agency targets, Shota Imanaga, in the offseason.
Chicago Cubs starter Imanaga has emerged as an early Cy Young contender after an impeccable start to the season. Despite his struggles in the last two games, Imanaga continues to be the crown jewel of the Cubs rotation.
San Francisco Giants were one of the teams pursuing the coveted Japanese starter during his free agency this offseason. The Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Baltimore Orioles, Houston Astros, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Milwaukee Brewers were the other teams interested in signing the left-handed starter.
However, according to Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, the team hesitated in tabling an offer for the Japanese pitcher due to their scouting reports.
“Our pitch-grade models really liked him,” Zaidi said. “They had plus grades on all three of his pitches — fastball, split and breaking ball. But our scouting reports weren’t as strong, and it’s understandable because what makes his pitches so effective doesn’t jump out to the naked eye."
Zaidi talked about the discrepancy in the scouting reports of international targets and how the team usually misses out on subtle skill sets of a player if they are not as eye-catching as the others.
"When you layer in the competition gap in scouting international professionals, it’s always easier to bank on louder tools than subtler skills like having pitches with unique movement patterns," he added.
Shota Imanaga stumbles after perfect start to MLB career
The San Francisco Giants' hesitancy to take a chance with Shota Imanaga ended with the Chicago Cubs signing the 30-year-old left to a four-year, $53 million contract.
While the contract for a relatively unknown quantity seemed like a gamble at the time, Imanaga has proved the doubters wrong in spectacular fashion. The Cubs rookie has one of the lowest ERA this season despite back-to-back disappointing outings this week.
Imanaga was taken for seven hits, allowing five runs and striking out six batters in the Cubs' come-from-behind victory over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday. Hindsight is perfect, but perhaps the Giants should've taken a chance on the Japanese ace while heavily pursuing fellow Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.