Chicago Cubs Ace at Top of MLB in a Key Advanced Metric This Season

The Chicago Cubs are off to a hot start, and while their offense is at the forefront of the success, their ace has been just as impressive so far.

Apr 15, 2025; San Diego, California, USA; Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Shota Imanaga (18) delivers during the first inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. | Denis Poroy-Imagn Images

The Chicago Cubs have been on an absolute tear offensively to kick off the 2025 season, leading the MLB with 145 runs scored through 24 games, and remaining tied for fifth in batting average with a .258.

This success has led them to first place in the National League Central, and a 14-10 record, which is good for seventh in the NL.

With that said, the offense is not the only part of this team that is clicking, as the pitching has shown impressive stints throughout the first few series.

They have been heavily bolstered by ace Shota Imanaga, who has been absolutely outstanding through his first five starts of the year. The 2024 All-Star has proven his talent once again in 2025, posting a 2.22 ERA, 0.988 WHIP, 2-1 record, and 21 strikeouts to 10 walks across 28.1 innings pitched.

One of the most crucial components to this success for Imanaga has been his ability to generate swings, and this season it has been at a rate almost no one could have predicted.

In terms of pitchers who have faced at least 100 batters this season, he ranks at the top of the list in swing percentage, with 56.4% of his pitches being swung at according to Baseball Savant. In addition, he is also generating high swing and miss numbers, with a 27.8% whiff rate, good for a tie at No. 24 among the same group of MLB pitchers.

The most intriguing part about this is why he has found so much success, and it heavily revolves around his utilization of the four-seam fastball.

This season his four-seamer is averaging 19.3 inches of induced vertical break (3.0 inches more than comparable pitches around the MLB) and 11.9 inches of induced horizontal break (3.9 inches more than comparable).

This type of movement allows him to rotate and mix his pitches to give similar looks with different ending points at the point of contact, which is something typically seen with the most elite pitchers in the league.

One of the changes he made over the course of the offseason was his arm angle, which has changed his results slightly as well. Small technical tweaks can change things drastically for the better, and that can be seen with Imanaga this year, taking three degrees off his arm angle, going from 40 to 37.

Many pitchers have been changing this specifically in the past few offseasons as data catches up and coaches can further understand the impact it has on pitching, and clearly the Cubs have found the best mix for their ace.