MESA, Ariz. – When Shota Imanaga takes the Tokyo Dome mound next month, as the Cubs open the season with a two-game series against the Dodgers, there will be fans in the stands who watched his rise in Nippon Professional Baseball.
Eight years with the Yokohama DeNa Baystars preceded his impressive rookie major-league season – when his success, expressive face, and sense of humor made him a fast fan-favorite in Chicago.
But Imanaga, ever-humble, knows who most fans will be there to see.
“Shohei Ohtani and [Yoshinobu] Yamamoto, I think they’re going to have a lot bigger cheers,” Imanaga said of the Dodgers stars, through interpreter Edwin Stanberry. “But I want to tell the Japanese fans that hopefully they could cheer me and Seiya Suzuki on as much as they do with them.”
OK, maybe matching the best baseball player in the world in reception isn’t realistic. But may as well ask.
Along with those four established Japanese major-league players on the Cubs and Dodgers, rookie Roki Sasaki signed with Los Angeles this offseason. The Cubs also pursued Sasaki, who was World Baseball Classic teammates with Imanaga. They got an in-person meeting but didn’t make the final three.
“I didn’t really talk to him at all,” Imanaga said when asked if he tried to convince him to join the Cubs. “I’m just a guy on the outside in this situation. And it’s his decision.”
Imanaga went through the posting process just last offseason, to land with the Cubs.
He was historically good through his first nine starts and went on to finish fifth in National League Cy Young voting and fourth in Rookie of the Year. He had the best ERA (2.91) in the Cubs rotation and fourth-best walk rate (4.0%) among qualified major-league pitchers. He exceeded even the Cubs’ expectations.
Imanga’s humility, however, extends to his evaluation of last season.
“I have to give up fewer home runs,” he said Monday. “I need to get my strikeouts numbers higher. That means the quality of the starts are going to be better. So looking at all those, I figured out, OK, this is what I need to work on for the next season.”
He cited his and Yamamoto’s wins above replacement off the top of his head. Imanga had a 3.0-fWAR last season, compared to Yamamoto’s 2.8.
“He threw less innings, but his WAR was pretty close to mine,” Imanga said. “And looking at a guy like Paul Skeens – his WAR was incredible.”
It’s true, Imanaga threw 173 1/3 innings, while Yamamoto was limited to 90 because of a strained rotator cuff. But in his comments, Imanaga didn’t give himself credit for staying healthy all season.
Skenes (4.3 fWAR) won NL Rookie of the Year, after debuting with the Pirates on May 11 – against the Cubs, as it so happened. But among rookie pitchers, Imanaga had the next-highest WAR.
“That’s so refreshing to have a guy who’s had success and also wants to continue to get better,” pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said, “but knows what his foundation is and what’s going to make him successful.”
After making a smooth transition to MLB, navigating a myriad of adjustments on and off the field, Imanaga will begin his sophomore MLB campaign in his home country. And he has some ideas for those of his teammates who will be experiencing Japan for the first time.
“There’s obviously sushi here [in the United States],” Imanaga said. “And I want my teammates, the staff, to try out sushi over there. And then they can compare and see the difference between the two.”