Expectations are much lower for Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga
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What are the initial expectations for Shota Imanaga this season?
Rahimi Harris and Grody. Middays 10 to 2. On 104.3 The Score. Lead at first by Jackson Merrill. The pitch. Swing and a miss. Strike three and that's out number one. Excellent pitch by Shota as he goes at the breaking ball. He's not having a great feel for that split so he goes with a little slower hook. Throws it down and in and Bogart's really not ready for that pitch.
How did Shota Imanaga's contract situation unfold?
Well out front of him.
The dagger for Shota? What are we doing here? We're getting out of control. This is Rahimi Harrison-Brody on 104.3 The Score. And now my hockey brain is combining with my baseball brain. And I'm still not over football brain. And I don't know what names are going to come out of my head. And I apologize in advance. But one thing we do know well is that Shota Imanaga was the recipient of savvy timing and a very interesting contract structure. Shota had an option. We were all trying to figure out what it was at the end of last season. It was a mutual. The club declined the option. Then he had the option to opt back in with a raise or test the market. And if so, the Cubs were going to get a compensatory pick.
As we know, he did not test the market and now showed that Imanaga got a raise up to $22 million is what he is being paid. And the concern is he started with a 265 ERA in the first half with an 093 whip and then had a 470 ERA and a 104 whip in the second half.
Is that bad?
It got worse in the playoffs. And the home run became something that was a common result of what we saw of him at the mound.
Layla, look at it like this. Well before the regular season ended, what did I tell you about Shota Imanaga? He can't be a part of your playoff rotation. He gives up too many home runs, and we know, by and large, home runs are the deciding factor in most playoff games. Not all, but most. And when you look at what this guy did, first half versus second half, understand this. He gave up almost twice as many home runs. in the second half as he did in the first half. He gave up 11 home runs in his first 12 starts.
What performance trends did Shota show in the first half versus the second half?
He gave up 20 home runs over his last 13 starts. I think he still has a streak going of giving up a home run in starts. Am I correct in that? I'm going to look it up to make sure.
I've just got the splits in front of me. That's why I was able to see those easily. Let's look at the old game log.
According to the game log, I'll tell you this. He famously did not pitch in the... postseason in his last opportunity to pitch. The Cubs skipped him, did not throw him out there. He gave up three home runs over two postseason appearances, so he gave up home runs in each of those. And if you go back to the regular season and add his last nine regular season starts, he gave up 11 straight starts home runs.
Yeah, you have to go back to August 5th against Cincinnati who now has Eugenio Suarez to see the last game where he didn't give up a home run. That was a 5-1 loss. He still ended up giving up One earned run, at least in that ballgame.
But that's fine. Six and a third, three hits, one earned run. That's the show you thought you signed up for.
Yeah, not the eighth spot that he gave up to the Mets. You and I watched that show, actually, with our guest at noon, Clay Harbor, if you recall, at Old Crow. That was bad. The four earned runs against the Milwaukee Brewers was not great. That was two home runs in that, but that was only two and two-thirds innings in that outing. And that's the last time we saw him pitch. That was on October 6th of last year. Shota gets the raise. The Cubs end up having to pay him. And we've batted around the idea of a six-man rotation when it comes to trying to figure out how he fits in on this team.
I think it's clear that as of right now, he feels like insurance. Because you look at the other starters in this rotation to start it off, and I think honestly, unless something... I don't want to say drastic changes, unless there's a return to what he looked like in the first half of the season. He's not in your top five pitchers, and that's including Colin Ray, I'm going to be honest with you.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What are the initial expectations for Shota Imanaga this season?
0:01–0:26
2
How did Shota Imanaga's contract situation unfold?
0:26–2:19
3
What performance trends did Shota show in the first half versus the second half?
2:19–4:49
4
Why is Shota Imanaga's home run rate a concern for his future?
4:49–8:48
5
What adjustments does Shota need to make for a successful season?
8:48–12:45
Speakers
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