Runs were a rarity on Saturday at Wrigley Field, as the host Cubs eked out a 1-0 win over the Pirates. The game was scoreless until the ninth, when Cody Bellinger scurried home from second on a Christopher Morel walk-off single that was confirmed on replay:
Christopher Morel delivers the Wrigley Field walk-off! pic.twitter.com/DqBZ61cv5r
— MLB (@MLB) May 18, 2024
Last-second dramatics notwithstanding, the real story from Saturday's game was the ongoing dominance of lefty Shota Imanaga, the Cubs' 30-year-old rookie ace. The numbers:
Of Imanaga's 88 pitches, an impressive 68 went for strikes. He also notched nine ground-outs versus five fly-outs and induced an impressive 22 swings and misses. Imanaga has a pair of breaking balls in his repertoire, but he heavily leans on his fastball and splitter. That was especially the case against Pittsburgh, as 84 of his 88 pitchers were either the heater or the split-change. "Heater" of course is a relative term, as Imanaga's fastball checks in at a below average 92 mph. However, his is a "rising" fastball (in reality, fastballs don't rise, but some, like Imanaga's, respond to gravity much less than the hitter anticipates, which gives them a rising appearance), and that's a coveted skill among pitchers these days. Imanaga continues to use that pair of offerings to great effect.
Imanaga has now worked 53 ⅔ innings with 58 strikeouts against just nine walks. As for his ERA, Saturday's seven scoreless lowered it to 0.84. That figure, it turns out, is a history-making one. As Sarah Langs notes:
SHOTA IMANAGA’S 0.84 ERA IS THE LOWEST IN A PITCHER’S 1ST 9 CAREER STARTS SINCE ER OFFICIAL IN BOTH LEAGUES (1913) [excluding openers]
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) May 18, 2024
only other under 1.00: 1981 Fernando Valenzuela, 0.91 https://t.co/HftudO40cm
Stated another way, the start to Imanaga's career has gone just about perfectly.
The Cubs inked Imanaga out of Japan this past offseason to a four-year, $53 million contract with options that could push the total value to $80 million. Thus far, that's turning out to be a colossal bargain from the club's standpoint.
There were some concerns about Imanaga, which probably served to dampen his stateside market. Chiefly, his fly-ball tendencies in Japan led to elevated home run rates in a league not known for power. How would that translate to MLB, which is a much more power-oriented league? Thus far, the answer is quite swimmingly. Stamina and durability will remain possible worries as the season deepens, but for now, the reality is that Imanaga has been dominant and the rotation stabilizer the Cubs have badly needed given Kyle Hendricks' profound struggles and the hamstring injury that cost Justin Steele more than a month's worth of starts.
It's early to be asking such a thing, but might Imanaga claim the Cy Young Award as a rookie? Through nine starts, he's on his way to doing just that. Of note is that only one other pitcher has achieved that feat: the aforementioned Fernando Valenzuela in 1981.
