Shota

Imanaga

The 32-year-old southpaw piled up nine strikeouts on the afternoon. The only runner to reach base against him came on a two-out walk to Oneil Cruz in the second inning. Imanaga was in complete command throughout, generating a whopping 18 swings and misses on 100 pitches — 10 of those on his splitter alone — while posting a CSW of 30 percent. Unfortunately for Cubs’ fans and fantasy managers, they were unable to score a run for him and he wound up settling for a no-decision. He’ll look to replicate this terrific effort as he brings a 2.81 ERA, 0.81 WHIP and a 20/4 K/BB ratio (16 innings) into Wednesday’s battle against the Phillies in Philadelphia.

Imanaga, who struck out four, opened the sixth with a 3-0 lead, only to get pulled immediately after a groundball double from Steven Kwan. The Guardians went on to score three runs in the inning to tie things up. Imanaga is throwing better than he did last year and projects as a pretty solid mixed-league starter going forward. He’ll face the Pirates next.

The game will be made up Sunday with a traditional doubleheader. Shota Imanaga and Slade Cecconi were scheduled to start Saturday’s affair, and they’ll likely get the nod in one of the two games in Sunday’s twin-billing.

Imanaga allowed six hits, and he struck out seven while generating a very solid 16 swings and misses and walked two. He pitched better than this line — particularly after the first inning — but a three-run homer allowed to Joey Wiemer spoiled the punch. Imanaga is deserving of being in fantasy lineups in the majority of leagues agaisnt the Guardians on Saturday.

Imanaga generated a staggering 17 swinging strikes, with nearly half of them (eight) coming on his sweeper alone. The 32-year-old’s fastball velocity was up nearly two miles per-hour in this outing as he continues to flash increased velocity this spring, leading to a 4.50 ERA and 18/3 K/BB ratio across 18 innings of work. He’s looked extremely impressive this spring, causing his fantasy stock to increase as a result, vaulting him into the top 40-50 range among starting pitchers entering the year. He’s in line to take the ball on Saturday against the Nationals to kick off the regular season.

Jeimer Candelario’s solo homer in the fifth was the only hit given up by Imanaga tonight. With his velocity up across the board this spring, Imanaga is looking like a nice bounce-back candidate and an underrated draft-day option.

The results weren’t great, but it was nice to see Imanaga average 92.1 mph with his fastball today. He was down at 90.8 mph last year after coming in at 91.7 mph in his first season in the U.S. Imanaga struck out three today and got seven whiffs on his 13 splitters thrown.

Imanaga gave up all three runs on solo homers. The 32-year-old didn’t issue a walk while picking up a strikeout. Imanaga will not be participating in the WBC in 2026, so he’ll remain a part of the Cubs’ spring training rotation before pitching at or near the top of the rotation when the real games start.

It qualified as a major surprise when Imanaga accepted a qualifying offer from the Cubs at the outset of the offseason since he figured to have plenty of suitors on the open market. The 32-year-old southpaw has settled in as a consistent top-50 range starting pitcher for fantasy purposes, even if his velocity and strikeout rate are trending in the wrong direction. It’s notable that his fastball velocity was up to 93 mph in this early-spring outing, which is an encouraging sign.

The Cubs could have kept Imanaga for $57 million over three years, but they decided against that. It was kind of surprising they offered him the QO afterwards, but having him back for one year doesn’t seem like a bad thing. It just complicates the idea of making a run at Dylan Cease, Michael King or another top starter. As is, the Cubs’ rotation consists of Matthew Boyd, Jameson Taillon, Cade Horton and Imanaga, with Colin Rea likely filling in until Justin Steele returns from elbow surgery.