Chicago Cubs Skipper 'Optimistic' After Shota Imanaga's Initial Injury Testing

The Chicago Cubs recently got some good news regarding their star pitcher's recent hamstring injury.

May 4, 2025; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Chicago Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga (18) walks toward the mound to be checked out by a trainer after being injured against the Milwaukee Brewers in the sixth inning at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Michael McLoone-Imagn Images | Michael McLoone-Imagn Images

The Chicago Cubs have been on a roll to start the season, but they appeared to hit a bump in the road this past Sunday against the Milwaukee Brewers when star pitcher Shota Imanaga had to exit the game early due to injury.

The team later announced that Imanaga had suffered a hamstring strain and would be placing him on the 15-day injured list as a result.

Following this announcement, speculation quickly began to circle about the severity of the injury and how long it would take the star to fully recover.

Manager Craig Counsell assuaged some of these concerns following the Cubs' 9-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Monday night, though, as he told the Chicago Sun-Times' Maddie Lee that initial imaging is showing the strain to be "very mild" and that the team is "optimistic" about his recovery moving forward.

Counsell added that Imanaga will likely miss at lest two weeks, but the initial testing has still provided a massive sigh of relief for the club.

Any time the best pitcher on the team has to limp off the mound in obvious discomfort, the natural instinct is to assume the worst.

Chicago has already been bit by the injury bug once this year, with Justin Steele being forced to undergo season-ending elbow surgery just two weeks into the campaign.

As such, losing Imanaga for an extended period of time would have been a very substantial blow for this team since their two aces would have been on the shelf.

Imanaga has continued to grow into one of the best pitchers in the game in his second season at the MLB level. Including his injury-shortened appearance on Sunday, the lefty has racked up a 2.82 ERA and 1.097 WHIP across 44.2 innings of work. He's also struck out more than twice as many batters as he's walked in the process.

This follows up his stellar rookie campaign last year in which he was named an All Star, and finished top five in NL Cy Young voting.

Simply put, Imanaga has become a piece the Cubs can't afford to lose, which makes his initial prognosis such a relief for both the team and fans.