Imanaga’s historic run to start MLB career continues against Pirates
Shotamania is officially greater than Fernandomania.
Now, we're not sure about the mania part, but Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga has the best start to a career of any MLB pitcher. His ERA dipped to 0.84 after tossing 7 scoreless innings against Pittsburgh on Saturday at Wrigley Field.
The Cubs won 1-0 when Cody Bellinger led off the bottom of the ninth with a ground-rule double and Christopher Morel followed with an RBI single. There was a disputed play at the plate, but the Cubs survived the video review and restarted “Go Cubs Go” to celebrate the end of a two-game losing streak.
When Bellinger came up with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the team made sure to teach the legend of Fernando Valenzuela to the younger players.
“Absolutely. Obviously wasn't around for Fernando, but if it was anything like this, it's pretty tremendous, honestly,” Bellinger said. “Playing defense behind (Imanaga), just watching him, it's been really impressive.”
We're talking about Valenzuela's stellar start to the 1981 season, but this isn't a perfect comparison. The Mexico native was a September call-up in 1980, so while still a rookie in '81, it wasn't the beginning of his MLB career.
But Valenzuela posted a 0.91 ERA through nine starts in '81, while the Dodgers drew crowds of 50,000 to his home appearances.
“If I'm being honest, I'm not really too interested in my own stats like that or any historic value,” Imanaga said through a translator. “But just knowing there are so many good pitchers that came before me, it's a good learning experience.”
It might be worth noting, beginning with start No. 10, Valenzuela gave up 20 earned runs in his next four outings, including a dud at Wrigley Field when he was pulled in the fourth inning after giving up a 3-run homer to Mike Tyson.
So far, though, no team has been able to figure out Imanaga. On Saturday against Pittsburgh, he stuck mostly with two pitches. He used the rising four-seam fastball, which averaged 90.9 mph; or the sinking splitter at 82.9 mph. He strayed from that plan to throw 4 curveballs.
“There's just not the mistakes,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “There's very few balls that feel hittable and you just kind of feel the hitters constantly a little between. That makes both pitches better. It's been so much fun to watch him.”
Imanaga, 30, is obviously a seasoned veteran with plenty of pro experience in Japan. Valenzuela was 20 when the 1981 season began.
When it comes to the mania part, Imanaga reported things have been pretty calm in his world. He sticks mostly with teammate Seiya Suzuki and their two translators.
“I haven't really walked around too much,” he said. “I've been going from the field back to my house. The only time I really go out anywhere is to buy my latte at Dunkin’ Donuts. Hopefully I can keep doing well and keep putting up stats so people.”
Pirates lefty Bailey Falter pitched into the eighth inning and matched Imanaga's string of zeros. The Cubs had just 3 hits heading into the ninth.
The play at the plate when Bellinger scored the winning run was unusual. Bellinger got a late break because he held up on the line drive. Center fielder Michael Taylor's throw was off line, but catcher Joey Bart lunged across the plate and clearly made contact with Bellinger. It was questionable whether Bellinger's foot initially struck Bart's forearm or if he was tagged, but then Bellinger knocked the ball out of Bart's bare hand after he crossed the plate.
“The way I see it, that's voluntary that (Bart) takes the ball out (of the glove) and it's a tag,” said Pirates manager Derek Shelton, a native of Gurnee. “The tag was in time. He tagged Bellinger before Bellinger tagged the plate.”
Twitter: @McGrawDHSports