Cubs’ Shota Imanaga makes even more franchise history in strong outing vs. Braves

The signing of Shota Imanaga has been a home run for the Chicago Cubs this season, and despite being defeated by the Atlanta Braves by the score of 2-0, Imanaga continued to impress with five shutout innings against one of the best lineups in the game. Imanaga’s start to the season with the Cubs has made all sorts of history.

At this point in the season, Shota Imanaga’s ERA sits at 0.96, which is the fourth lowest through a pitcher’s first four career starts (excluding openers) since at least 1913, which is when ERA became an official stat, according to Jordan Bastian of MLB.com. Only Fernando Valenzuela (0.50 in 1981), Dave Ferriss (0.75 in 1945) and Cisco Carlos (0.95 in 1967-68) had lower marks through their first eight starts.

As far as Cubs records go, Imanaga’s ERA is the lowest since at least 1912, when the National League first tracked earned runs, through the first eight starts of the season. He also became the first Cubs left-hander to pick off at least two baserunners in a game since Jim Davis did the same on July 5, 1954 against the Cincinnati Reds.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto got the bigger contract due to age, but Imanaga was seen as potentially one of the bigger value contracts of the offseason. He has been that and more for the Cubs this season and has been a huge part of them getting off to a 24-18 start.

Shota Imanaga getting praise from all over

After the outing, Imanaga was praised by his manager, Craig Counsell for fighting through innings that had a lot of traffic.

“It’s still five zeros,” Craig Counsell said, via Bastian.

His performance also drew compliments from Braves star Ronald Acuna Jr., the defending National League MVP.

“He pitched really well,” Ronald Acuna Jr. said, via Bastian. “He’s a tremendous pitcher. You have to give him all of the credit.”

Imanaga picked off Acuna in the first inning after he drew a walk. It was initially ruled that Acuna got back to first base in time, but a review overturned the call and he was out. That was not the first pick off for Imanaga in the game, as in the fifth inning, Ozzie Albies reached on a single. Imanaga picked him off at first, helping him get through the fifth inning.

The Braves took the lead in the sixth inning, as Zack Short hit an RBI double and Acuna hit an RBI single. Both came off of Hayden Wesneski, who entered the game in relief.

That was all of the scoring for the game as the Braves won 2-0. It was the first of a three-game set, and the Cubs will try to bounce back on Tuesday with a win. Despite the loss in the first game, Imanaga’s performance was a positive to take from the opening game of the series for the Cubs.