Chicago Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga earned an All-Star nod halfway through his first MLB season.
On Wednesday, he had arguably the strongest outing of his remarkable rookie campaign, pitching seven no-hit innings in a 12-0 blowout win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. But he was not given the opportunity to finish what he started and complete the no-hit effort.
Imanaga was not upset when he was taken out of the game after seven hitless innings and 95 pitches.
“He actually didn’t know he had a no-hitter going at all, which is funny,” manager Craig Counsell said.
Counsell pulled him after seven innings and 95 pitches. Cubs’ relievers Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge then completed the combined no-hit effort with 1-2-3 innings in the eighth and ninth. The no-hitter was the first of any kind by the Cubs at the ‘Friendly Confines’ of Wrigley Field since way back in 1972.
Embed from Getty Images“That’s 100% about taking care of Shota and making sure we’re doing the right thing for him,” Counsell said. “It’s not fun to do, but when you’re prioritizing the player’s health and you don’t know what’s going to happen moving forward, we want him to stay healthy.”
On the night, Imanaga was dominate and filthy, surrendering no hits, no runs and two walks while fanning seven. He had great command, throwing 66 of his 95 pitches for strikes. He lowered his season ERA to a sparkling 2.99 and his WHIP to 1.02 through 153 1/3 innings of work.
Imanaga got more than enough run support in the W. Cubs hitters torched Pirates pitchers for 17 hits, including three long balls, while posting 12 runs on the scoreboard. The Cubs improved to 72-68, four games above .500, with the win. They are 4.5 games in back of the Atlanta Braves for the final NL wild-card berth.
The Cubs signed Imanaga to a lucrative four-year, $53 million contract in January to lure him from Japan. With the regular season entering its home stretch, that deal looks like a bargain and pennies on the dollar.
Imanaga got off to a masterful start to his MLB career, striking out nine Colorado Rockies in six two-hit, shutout innings in April. He carried a no-hit bid into the sixth inning of that game before it was broken up. By mid-May, Imanaga was sporting a 0.84 ERA, the lowest in MLB history through a pitcher’s first nine career starts.
The effort earned him a trip to the mid-summer classic in July. Now he has added perhaps the best start of his young career in a combined no-hitter by the Cubs.
The no-hitter was the fourth of the MLB season and the first done combined effort. Ronel Blanco (Houston Astros), Dylan Cease (San Diego Padres) and Blake Snell (San Francisco Giants) have thrown the other three. Blanco had a shot at another no-hitter in June. Like Imanaga on Wednesday, he was pulled from that game after seven no-hit innings.
