Imanaga continues to deliver, Cubs beat A’s
This has been a disappointing, underachieving season for the Cubs, but not without significant bright spots.
Topping the list is the performance of pitcher Shota Imanaga. Signing the 31-year-old left-hander from Japan was pure genius.
Imanaga piled up a season-high 11 strikeouts and chalked up his 18th quality start in 28 outings as the Cubs rolled past Oakland 9-2 on Monday at Wrigley Field. The Cubs have gone 22-6 in games he's started.
“Starting the year, I had the goal to throw 162 innings and everything was a first with the ball being different, the mound, the pitch clock,” Imanaga said through his translator. “So the goal was also to stay healthy and I was able to do that thanks to Craig (Counsell), thanks to the pitching coaches.”
Imanaga is up to 166 innings on the season. He recorded his 14th win, a career-high, including Japan, and dropped his ERA to 3.03. If he can hold that line during his final two starts, it will be the lowest ERA by a Cubs full-time starter since Kyle Hendricks (2.13) and Jon Lester (2.44) in 2016. Hendricks had a 3.03 in 24 starts in '17, while Justin Steele posted a 3.06 last year in 30 starts.
“I'm not too concerned with the amount of wins I have,” Imanaga said. “I believe whenever I start, I think it's more important to help the team win.”
Imanaga has an excellent chance of finishing among the top three in NL Cy Young voting. Atlanta's Chris Sale, the former White Sox ace, should be an easy winner, with a 17-3 record and 2.35 ERA. Philadelphia's Zack Wheeler (15-6, 2.60) is the likely runner-up.
NL rookie of the year will be interesting, with Imanaga's top competition coming from a couple of outfielders with similar names and stats — San Diego's Jackson Merrill and Milwaukee's Jackson Chourio. Merrill's numbers are slightly better with an .816 OPS, 23 home runs and 85 RBI.
Imanaga's salary was a relative bargain at $9.25 million and he's locked in next year at $13.25 million. After that, his contract has a series of mutual options that could potentially raise the annual salary beyond $20 million.
Oakland's Jacob Wilson hit Imanaga's first pitch of the game into the right-field corner for a triple, then didn't score. The Athletics' scoring came on the 38th home run of the season by Brent Rooker in the third.
Manager Craig Counsell talked about Imanaga using his split-finger more than usual to attack and aggressive lineup. According to StatCast, Imanaga actually used it less and relied more on secondary pitches like the changeup, sweeper and sinker.
The Cubs pounded out 18 hits. The lone home run was a 3-run shot by Dansby Swanson that dropped into the left-field basket for his 15th of the season.
Miguel Amaya, who was just 2-for-27 at the plate this month, went 3-for-4 with a triple and 2 RBI. Pete Crow-Armstrong was 2-for-4 with a double, while Isaac Paredes and Seiya Suzuki also collected 3 hits.
The Cubs (77-73) are well behind in the NL wild-card race, but could probably keep their hopes alive by sweeping this week's seven-game homestand against the A's and Washington.