Chicago Cubs Ace Showing Some Concerning Signs in Spring Training Outing

The Chicago Cubs pitching staff ace is not showing the kind of form you want to see heading into the season.

Mar 4, 2025; Mesa, Arizona, USA; Chicago Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga (18) throws against the San Diego Padres in the first inning at Sloan Park. / Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

The Chicago Cubs are going to kick off the 2025 MLB regular season in the Japan Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers next week.

Taking the mound for them in the opener will be Shota Imanaga, who will be opposed by his fellow countryman, Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

It will be a must-see matchup with the two aces facing off in a homecoming.

But, there are some concerns about he form that Imanaga is showing heading into the game.

In his most recent spring training outing against the Cleveland Guardians on Mar. 10, he was not sharp. He pitched only 1.2 innings, allowing four earned runs on four hits and one walk with one strikeout.

The Guardians also tagged him for two home runs, as he has now surrendered three during the spring.

Slated to start six days from now in the season opener, Imanaga doesn’t not seem to have his pitching arsenal ready to go.

As shared by Pitch Profiler on X, his four-seam fastball is something to keep an eye on as he didn’t throw it effectively against Cleveland. Averaging only 89.7 mph with almost two inches lost in IVB is concerning.

It was his least impactful pitch against the Guardians, despite throwing it the most, with a ghastly 76 proStuff+ score; 100 is considered average. He didn’t generate many swings and misses with a lowly 11.1% whiff rate.

Overall, he had a proStuff+ score of 91 with a whiff rate of 17.4%. The one encouraging takeaway from the outing was that he registered a barrel rate of 0.0%.

Shota losing almost 2 inches of IVB on the four-seam is not ideal... pic.twitter.com/ROdk6qgRuK

— Pitch Profiler (@pitchprofiler) March 10, 2025

Heading into his second year in the MLB, Imanaga did not have a great showing during spring training.

He made three appearances, throwing 11 innings with a 5.73 ERA. Nine hits and two walks were allowed along with two batters being hit by a pitch. 

The number of home runs allowed was far from ideal, but it was encouraging to see him striking out opponents at a higher clip compared to his rookie campaign.

Hopefully for the Cubs it was a matter of Imanaga just not throwing with 100 percent effort yet, looking to save himself for the regular season as much as possible as he continues ramping up to his normal levels.

Chicago is counting on him to anchor the rotation again in 2025 alongside Justin Steele atop the rotation.

His pinpoint control makes him a stellar front end performer, as he was an All-Star in 2024 along with finishing fifth in the National League Cy Young Award voting and fourth in the Rookie of the Year race.

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