Shota Imanaga, the king of the Cubs mound

During the low season, the Nombre de Yoshinobu Yamamoto resonated with great force when the Dodgers awarded him a contract of 325 million dollars for 10 seasons.

For many, Yamamoto was the great jewel that came to MLB from Japan since Shohei Ohtani He did it in the 2018 season. But with a month of season Part of the history books, there is another Japanese player who has emerged to become a sensation on the mound.

Shota Imanaga added another extraordinary start by throwing seven scoreless innings in which He only allowed three hits from the Mets’ artilleryhe walked and He struck out seven enemies to achieve his fifth victory of the year and lower its effectiveness to 0.78. The Japanese is the leader in both categories in the Major Leaguesshowing that his signature on the part of the ninth of Chicagowas the best of the offseason.

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Los Mets They nearly tied the game in the ninth inning when Jeff McNeil he hit a fly ball to left field that Pete Alonso He tried to take advantage from third with a hit and run. Although Alonso arrived first, he did not touch home plate, so he was put out in a double play that gave Chicago the victory.

The only score of the game came in the top of the fifth roll with a sacrifice fly from Pete Crow-Armstrong who sent the register to Matt Mervis with the race of the pool and the triumph.

Imanaga was the first pitcher since 1901 to go 4-0. with an ERA under 1.00 and at least 28 strikeouts in his first five starts. Now it’s down to a minuscule 0.78.

Shot Imanaga He gained fame in the United States when he was given the opportunity to start the 2023 World Classic title game against the Stars and Stripes in Miami. More than any other Japanese pitcher in the WBC, including Yu Darvish and Shohei OhtaniImanaga took advantage of the contest to show his potential to pitch effectively in the MLB.

Imanaga worked six innings in three appearances, striking out seven and walking none. His metrics were the best among all pitchers who threw at least 28 pitches in the World Classic, according to Eno Sarris’ Stuff+ calculations. After that, the Cubs They gave him a contract of 53 million dollars for four seasons.

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