"We’re all kind of astonished at how good he’s been" - NL official on rookie ace Shota Imanaga's unstoppable rise to MLB prominence
Pitcher Shota Imanaga has been in MLB for less than three months, but is already looking like an established presence among pitchers. Recently, an unnamed official was quoted expressing a sentiment about the 30 year-old that has become widespread around the league.
In a recent piece for The Athletic, writers Ken Rosenthal, Sahadev Sharma, and Patrick Mooney teamed up to profile how individuals around the league feel about Imanaga's meteoric rise. When commenting on the Japanese ace, one unnamed NL official issued echoed a prevailing feeling:
"We’re all kind of astonished at how good he’s been"
Although the Chicago Cubs knew that Shota Imanaga was an elite pitcher when they inked him to a four-year, $53 million deal in January, few could have predicted he'd be this good. Imanaga is a two-time NPB All-Star who led Japan's foremost league in strikeouts last season, with 188 of them.
Imanaga hit the ground running, allowing zero earned runs over his first three MLB starts. By his fifth start, the Fukuoka-native was 5-0 with a 0.84 ERA. Now with 10 starts under his belt, Shota Imanaga is 5-1 with a 1.86 ERA and 59 strikeouts across 58 innings of work on the bump.
Mere weeks before Imanaga's deal with the Cubs was finalized, his countryman Yoshinobu Yamamoto set a record for a Japanese rookie contract. Yamamoto, who formerly played for the Orix Buffaloes of NPB, signed a 12-year deal worth $325 million with the Los Angeles Dodgers in late December.
"Shota Imanaga's 3Ks thru 2." - Pitching Ninja
While Yamamoto's deal certainly garnered more press at the time, it has been Imanaga who has outshined every other NPB transplant this season. Nicknamed the "Throwing Philosopher", Imanaga is known for his methodical approach, which often involves tireless work and attention to his renowned breaking pitches.
NPB experience was instrumental in Shota Imanaga's MLB success
Before he threw a pitch in MLB, Imanaga had eight years of experience pitching in NPB, which is regarded as the second-best baseball league on earth. Because of that experience, Imanaga possessed an emotional maturity that most rookie pitchers could only dream of.
In the same piece for The Athletic, Cubs manager Craig Counsell was quoted as saying:
“I don’t mean to say that he’s old, but I think he is in a place in life where he is very sure of who he is. That’s been evident from early on. He’s very confident in his choices, very confident in the people he puts around him."
With Imanaga's time in Chicago having only just begun, fans at Wrigley Field can excite in the fact that there is plenty of time for him to mesmerize even more.