Jump Aboard the Shōta Imanaga Hype Train
Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Shōta Imanaga hadn’t appeared in spring training for 10 days before he returned to the bump on Tuesday night. While you may have been distracted by the World Baseball Classic final that ended with Daniel Palencia’s dominant save, you missed Imanaga looking like the All-Star caliber pitcher that he was in his first year with the Cubs.
There has been a lot of focus on Imanaga’s velocity this year after the left-handed pitcher missed time with a hamstring injury that may have led to his dip in velocity in 2025. The Japanese pitcher came out firing in his first spring training appearance of 2026, and since throwing 94 mph Imanaga has settled into the 92 mph range. That may not seem all that significant in today’s game, but it’s a big difference for Imanaga, who struggled to get his fastball above 91 mph last season.
More importantly, Imanaga’s start against the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday produced 25 swings and misses. He struck out eight batters and walked one in 4.2 innings of work.
After posting a 25.1 K% and 28.3 whiff rate in 2024, Imanaga only recorded a 20.6 K% and 24.6 whiff rate in 2025. So, seeing that Imanaga was able to get 25 swings and misses on 45 swings was an incredible sign of progress after his tough sophomore season in MLB.
He’s going to give up home runs, but Imanaga was still able to be a good pitcher despite of them in 2025. Last year was a different story as he was giving up more damage, but if he’s back to mesmerizing hitters with his nasty splitter, then don’t wait any longer and jump aboard the Shōta Imanaga hype train now.
Shōta Imanaga’s Velocity
Imanaga finished the 2025 season with a 3.73 ERA in 25 starts and while that obviously isn’t bad his last 12 starts yielded a 5.17 ERA in 69.2 innings. The veteran lefty was getting crushed as opponents clobbered 20 home runs against Imanaga from July 25 through the end of the regular season and then in the postseason Imanaga gave up three more home runs in 6.2 innings.
His velocity went down and although the difference might look minimal on paper, 91.9 mph in 2024 to 90.8 mph in 2025, it was huge on the mound for Imanaga. I mean, we saw how good he was during his first MLB season and it wasn’t like Imanaga was blowing hitters away with triple digits. All he needed was 92-93 mph and good location with his fastball coupled with a nasty splitter.
And that’s why I’m a believer again. We know Imanaga can be good in this league and we can’t ignore that a hamstring injury may have ultimately derailed his 2025 season. Cubs manager Craig Counsell discussed how the leg injury caused mechanical flaws for Imanaga last year, which led to lower velocity.
To his credit Imanaga didn’t sit by and dwell on his disappointing second half. He trained in the offseason to ensure his velocity was back up and in his spring training debut Imanaga looked like the All-Star pitcher that he was in 2024.
That strikeout came on a 94 mph fastball from Imanaga. In 2025, Imanaga’s highest velocity was 93.7 mph and it came in his first start of the year against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Japan.
Sure, Imanaga was probably a little amped up to get back out there, but he threw 24 fastballs against the San Diego Padres and the left-hander averaged 93 mph. That’s a lovely development for him and the Cubs.
All-in on Shōta Imanaga in 2026.