Chicago Cubs Starter Has Been ‘Biggest Surprise’ of Season

The Chicago Cubs left-hander has been better than many expected entering the campaign.

Aug 12, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Shota Imanaga (18) delivers a pitch in the first inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. / David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

When the Chicago Cubs signed Shota Imanaga in the offseason, the hope was for him to come in and be a serviceable arm. He put up impressive stats in Japan, but few predicted he'd do what he's done in 2024.

The left-hander has been one of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball, which is a big reason the Cubs aren't much worse than they currently are. 

As a whole, the starting pitching has been good during the year. However, Imanaga has been elite, posting a 3.57 FIP, 3.16 ERA, 133 ERA+, and 131 strikeouts in 128 1/3 innings pitched. 

When entering the league, there were plenty of concerns about Chicago's ace regarding allowing home runs in Japan. It was his biggest problem before entering the league. He's allowed 19 on the year, but for the most part, he's limited damage in terms of that. 

His performance, in ways, has been surprising. And that's exactly why Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com listed him as one of the biggest 12 surprises of the season.

He's surprised Imanaga has been more valuable than Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

"Imanaga’s four-year, $53 million deal with the Cubs was tame by comparison. But even that number surprised some evaluators who saw the 30-year-old Imanaga as more of a back-end piece lacking the 25-year-old Yamamoto’s upside.

"It’s only one season, but while Yamamoto has been very good for the Dodgers, he’s been limited to 14 starts by a shoulder injury. Imanaga, meanwhile, has a 9-2 record, 3.16 ERA and 133 ERA+ in 128 1/3 innings, thriving overall even after one of his rougher starts of the season Monday."

Yamamoto was viewed as a generational type of arm entering the league. It's certainly possible that he still has that in him, but his performance hasn't been the same as Imanaga's to this point.

It's only one season, and Imanaga has been on record saying he understands that. However, the Cubs have to feel very confident about what they have here.

While the year hasn't gone as planned overall, it's a step in the right direction that they found another high-end starting pitcher. If he hadn't panned out, their decisions in the offseason would've been even more difficult.

An All-Star in his first campaign, hopefully, this will just be the beginning of something special brewing in Chicago for the 30-year-old who's proved plenty in America already.