Shōta Imanaga

Japanese baseball player

Baseball player

Shōta Imanaga

Imanaga with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars

Chicago Cubs – No. 18
Pitcher
Born: (1993-09-01) September 1, 1993 (age 30)
Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan

Bats: Left

Throws: Left

Professional debut
NPB: March 29, 2016, for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars
MLB: April 1, 2024, for the Chicago Cubs
NPB statistics
(through 2023 season)
Win–loss record| 64–50
Earned run average| 3.18
Strikeouts| 1,021
MLB statistics
(through May 7, 2024)
Win–loss record| 5−0
Earned run average| 1.08
Strikeouts| 43
Teams

* Yokohama DeNA BayStars (2016–2023)
* Chicago Cubs (2024–present)

Career highlights and awards
NPB

* 2× NPB All-Star (2019, 2023)
* Central League strikeout champion (2023)
* Pitched a no-hitter on June 7, 2022

Medals

Men's baseball
Representing  Japan
World Baseball Classic
|  2023 Miami | Team
WBSC Premier12
|  2019 Tokyo | Team

Shōta Imanaga (今永 昇太, Imanaga Shōta, born September 1, 1993), nicknamed "The Throwing Philosopher", is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars from 2016 to 2023. Imanaga is a two-time NPB All-Star and he led the Central League in strikeouts in 2023 before signing with the Cubs during the 2023–24 offseason.

## Career[edit]

### Yokohama DeNA BayStars[edit]

The Yokohama DeNA BayStars selected Imanaga in the first round of the 2015 NPB draft out of Komazawa University.[1]

Imanaga signed with the Canberra Cavalry of the Australian Baseball League to play weeks 2–7 of the 2018–19 Australian Baseball League season[2] In his six starts for the Cavalry, he posted a 4–0 win–loss record with a league-best 0.51 earned run average (ERA) over 35 innings pitched with 57 strikeouts to one walk. By meeting the statistical recognition minimum (0.8IP per team game), Imanaga broke the league records for WHIP (0.429), H/9 (3.6), BB/9 (0.3) and second-best ERA behind Ryan Searle. Following his ABL stint, Imanaga posted a 13–7 2.91 ERA, 2019 Nippon Professional Baseball season, finishing second in wins and strikeouts only behind Shun Yamaguchi in the Central League.

On June 7, 2022, Imanaga pitched a no-hitter against the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. [3] He struck out nine and allowed one walk over 117 pitches. [4]

On September 6, 2023, Yokohama announced that they would post Imanaga to Major League Baseball (MLB) following the 2023 season.[5]

### Chicago Cubs[edit]

On January 11, 2024, Imanaga signed a four-year, $53 million contract with the Chicago Cubs that also contained a fifth-year option.[6] The Cubs also had to pay $9.825 million to the Bay Stars in the form of a release fee.[7]

Imanaga pitched six shutout innings allowing just two hits with nine strikeouts in his first start for the Cubs on April 1, 2024.[8] In his first three starts, Imanaga finished with a 2–0 record, 15.1 innings pitched, 16 strikeouts, and no earned runs allowed.

As of May 2nd, Imanaga is 5-0 with a league-leading 0.78 ERA. He additionally has the third-best WHIP of 0.75 - only behind Ranger Suarez of the Philadelphia Phillies and Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers. [9]

## International career[edit]

Imanaga represented the Japan national baseball team in the 2019 exhibition games against Mexico and 2019 WBSC Premier12.[10][11]

Imanaga played for the Japanese national team at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and started the championship game in which Japan won 3–2.[12]

## Playing style[edit]

Imanaga is a 5 ft 10 in, 175 lb left-handed pitcher throwing from a three-quarters arm angle.[13][14] He has a fastball averaging nearly 92 mph (tops out at 96 mph[15]),[16][17] changeup, curveball and slider in his repertoire.[18] He is not an overpowering hurler but finds success with his command and changeup.[19]

## References[edit]

1. ^ "2015年 新人選手選択会議(ドラフト会議) 横浜DeNAベイスターズ 選択選手一覧". NPB.jp 日本野球機構 (in Japanese).
2. ^ "Japanese Major League Players Join the Cavalry". October 13, 2018. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
3. ^ "BayStars Shota Imanaga hurls no-hitter as Fighters lose five straight". June 8, 2022.
4. ^ Armstrong, Jim. "BayStars Lefty Shota Imanaga Tosses a No-Hitter Against the Fighters". JAPANforward. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
5. ^ "MLB Rumors: Shōta Imanaga to Be Posted in Free Agency; Won Gold with Japan at WBC". syndication.bleacherreport.com. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
6. ^ Bastain, Jordan (January 11, 2024). "Cubs finalize 4-year deal with Japanese lefty Imanaga". MLB.com. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
7. ^ https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/sources-cubs-lefty-shota-imanaga-finalizing-4-year/story?id=106278211
8. ^ Farkas, Brady (April 2, 2024). "Japanese Hurler Makes Rare Team History in Chicago Cubs Debut". Fastball. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
9. ^ "Stats". MLB.com. MLB. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
10. ^ "ENEOS 侍ジャパンシリーズ2019「日本 vs メキシコ」に出場するメンバー28名が決定". 野球日本代表 侍ジャパン オフィシャルサイト (in Japanese). February 18, 2019. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
11. ^ "「ENEOS 侍ジャパンシリーズ2019」出場選手決定について". 野球日本代表 侍ジャパン オフィシャルサイト (in Japanese). October 1, 2019. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
12. ^ "Japan starting Imanaga over Ohtani or Darvish in WBC final vs. United States". Sportsnet.ca. March 16, 2023. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
13. ^ https://www.mlb.com/player/shota-imanaga-684007
14. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20190714080057/https://www.nhk.or.jp/kitakyushu-blog/100/288713.html
15. ^ "【侍ジャパン】第2先発・今永昇太が3回1失点、毎回の3奪三振と好投 最速154キロを計測". スポーツ報知 (in Japanese). March 10, 2023. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
16. ^ "BayStars southpaw Shota Imanaga drawing interest from MLB teams". The Japan Times. November 13, 2023. Retrieved December 21, 2023.
17. ^ "Shota Imanaga: To be posted this offseason". CBSSports.com. October 9, 2023. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
18. ^ Connon, Sam (September 6, 2023). "Japanese Pitcher Shōta Imanaga Will Reportedly Be Posted to MLB Teams This Offseason". Fastball. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
19. ^ "Yokohama DeNa Baystars To Post Shota Imanaga". MLB Trade Rumors. September 6, 2023. Retrieved December 13, 2023.

## External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shota Imanaga.

* Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference (Minors)
* NPB.com

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Chicago Cubs current roster

Active roster|

* 1 Nick Madrigal
* 2 Nico Hoerner
* 5 Christopher Morel
* 7 Dansby Swanson
* 8 Ian Happ
* 9 Miguel Amaya
* 15 Yan Gomes
* 16 Patrick Wisdom
* 18 Shōta Imanaga
* 19 Hayden Wesneski
* 20 Miles Mastrobuoni
* 24 Cody Bellinger
* 25 Yency Almonte
* 29 Michael Busch
* 32 Ben Brown
* 35 Justin Steele
* 38 Mark Leiter Jr.
* 40 Mike Tauchman
* 49 Richard Lovelady
* 50 Jameson Taillon
* 51 Héctor Neris
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* 54 Colten Brewer
* 71 Keegan Thompson
* 72 Javier Assad
* 73 Adbert Alzolay

Inactive roster|

* 4 Alexander Canario
* 22 Matt Mervis
* 43 Luke Little
* 74 José Cuas
* 75 Luis Vázquez
* 82 Michael Arias
* 87 Porter Hodge
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Injured list|

* 11 Drew Smyly
* 27 Seiya Suzuki
* 28 Kyle Hendricks
* 36 Jordan Wicks
* 45 Caleb Kilian
* 48 Daniel Palencia
* 66 Julian Merryweather

Coaching staff|

* Manager 30 Craig Counsell
* Bench 84 Ryan Flaherty
* Pitching 68 Tommy Hottovy
* Hitting 76 Dustin Kelly
* First base 55 Mike Napoli
* Third base 33 Willie Harris
* Assistant pitching 53 Daniel Moskos
* Assistant hitting/Game planning 96 Jim Adduci
* Assistant hitting 63 Juan Cabreja
* Assistant hitting 80 John Mallee
* Bullpen 79 Darren Holmes
* Coach 90 Jonathan Mota
* Coach/Development 97 Alex Smith
* Bullpen catcher 85 Garrett Lloyd

* v
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Japan roster – 2019 WBSC Premier12 – Champions

* 1 Tetsuto Yamada
* 2 Sōsuke Genda
* 3 Hideto Asamura
* 4 Ryosuke Kikuchi
* 5 Shuta Tonosaki
* 6 Hayato Sakamoto
* 7 Nobuhiro Matsuda
* 8 Kensuke Kondo
* 9 Yoshihiro Maru
* 10 Seiji Kobayashi
* 11 Takayuki Kishi
* 13 Taisuke Yamaoka
* 17 Kan Otake
* 18 Shun Yamaguchi
* 19 Yasuaki Yamasaki
* 20 Hiroshi Kaino
* 21 Shōta Imanaga
* 22 Yūdai Ōno
* 23 Ukyo Shuto
* 27 Tsubasa Aizawa
* 28 Rei Takahashi
* 34 Masataka Yoshida
* 43 Yoshinobu Yamamoto
* 47 Kota Nakagawa
* 51 Seiya Suzuki
* 57 Shinya Kayama
* 62 Takuya Kai
* 90 Kazuto Taguchi

* Manager 80 Atsunori Inaba
* Coach 88 Makoto Kaneko
* Coach 81 Yoshinori Tateyama
* Coach 84 Yoshinori Murata
* Coach 82 Hirokazu Ibata
* Coach 87 Masaji Shimizu

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Japan roster – 2023 World Baseball Classic champions (3rd title)

* 1 Tetsuto Yamada
* 2 Sōsuke Genda
* 3 Shugo Maki
* 5 Taisei Makihara
* 7 Takumu Nakano
* 8 Kensuke Kondoh
* 9 Ukyo Shuto
* 10 Takuya Kai
* 11 Yu Darvish
* 12 Shosei Togo
* 13 Yuki Matsui
* 14 Rōki Sasaki
* 15 Taisei Ota
* 16 Shohei Ohtani
* 17 Hiromi Itoh
* 18 Yoshinobu Yamamoto
* 20 Ryoji Kuribayashi
* 21 Shōta Imanaga
* 22 Atsuki Yuasa
* 23 Lars Nootbaar
* 24 Takumi Ohshiro
* 25 Kazuma Okamoto
* 26 Yuki Udagawa
* 27 Yuhei Nakamura
* 28 Hiroto Takahashi
* 29 Hiroya Miyagi
* 33 Hotaka Yamakawa
* 34 Masataka Yoshida
* 47 Keiji Takahashi
* 55 Munetaka Murakami
* 63 Soichiro Yamazaki

Manager
89 Hideki Kuriyama

Coaches
Bench Coach 90 Kazuyuki Shirai
Hitting Coach 77 Sadaaki Yoshimura
Infield Coach 79 Noriyuki Shiroishi
Pitching Coach 81 Masato Yoshii
First Base Coach 87 Masaji Shimizu
Bullpen Coach 75 Kazuyuki Atsuzawa
Catching Coach 74 Yoshinori Murata
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