#MLBVideos: HE’S BACK! Shota Imanaga reportedly accepts Cubs’ qualifying offer (Career highlights) | 今永昇太ハイライト

HE’S BACK! Shota Imanaga reportedly accepts Cubs’ qualifying offer (Career highlights) | 今永昇太ハイライト

29-year-old left-hander, which is for the Bay Stars in Yokohama. Oh, hey, how about the pitchers today? Keep them busy. Ianaga now for team Japan. This one not hit as harder on broken bat, but nonetheless, wow, just handling rockets. Follow through. Just like that. Come on now. Strike three. Swinging. This one on the ground to Nakano just off the bench as a defensive replacement. That’s three for Imanaga. striking out the leadoff better. Tommy Emma had the swing right over dominant top hand and just could not get enough of his bottom hand to keep the bat alive in the outer half and on that plane. Tried to launch from there. Swung and miss. Just did not notice the ball getting away until too late. at 944 currently with an 892 career OPS pulls a grounder to Murakami but now a fiveun cushion to begin the top of the six Pantino lead off little soft liner to Genda at short one pitch one out for Short Imanaga did he go he did as Coopy Suarez at third base. So, Mastro retired for the third time tonight, though. That F7 in the fourth was not your ordinary F7. Here’s the side look. Did he break the 3-2 gets him swinging backto back strikeouts in a one, two, three, six. That’s Trout and Goldmid right away. And a little hesitation. Mooki hits a fly ball right center field. Condo over and he’ll make the catch short of the warning track for out number one. 02 got it. That right there was a good split. That’s a guy that’s understanding, hey, I’m going to rush him up and in and I’m going to slow him down with the split change right there. It was more of a straighter split change. It had really no dive down. That was a good one right there. Not out of the woods yet. Nolan Aronado first pitch swing and a ground ball. The first picked by Okamoto. He’ll take it to the bag himself for the put out. 02. That one is hit off the end of the bat to right field. Condo charging in and he’ll get there. The one two to Mullins. Three call. Perfect pitch right on the outside. We see that four seamer. Although Nakamura wanted that ball inside, it was still a good pitch on the on the away zone. Two on, two out. Luki Betts swings at that pitch and hits a fly ball to left field. Yoshida will make the catch short of the warning track. 25 strikeouts in 12 and two/3 innings in spring. The pitch check swing. Did he go? Yes, he did. Gomes will retrieve it and quickly throw to first in time. And there’s the first strikeout. Swag and a miss. And they got him on the splitter. 13 pitch at bat and Imanaga wins the confrontation. Coming off the fast ball going with that split finger pitch. Left on left. He gets the job done. Swaying and a miss and Diaz is gone. Struck him out. talked a lot about Imanaga and you know first time around the league trying to get to know the hitters and and and the adjustments he’s going to have to make in and hitting and run scored but they were down in the bottom near the bottom of the league. That one got him looking and Doyle is gone. This is strikeout number four from Imanaga of the looking variety. Fast at 94 in there. Got him. Jones is gone. Lefty deals. Swing and a miss. That’s a half dozen strikeouts for Sha Imanaga. Swing and a miss. Struck him out and got him for the second time. Swing and a miss. Struck him out. Eight punch outs for Shota Imanaga. His major league debut and he has been brilliant. Ahead one and two. Here it comes. Got him. Jones down on strikes. Nine punch outs in his major league debut. Shota Imanaga with six shutout innings. And Imanaga trying to continue his outstanding work that he had against the Colorado Rockies, but facing a potent lineup today. 3-2 swing and a miss. He got him. 94. Pretty good battle between those two. And Imanaga gets Otani. Yeah, that was fun. And a nice win for Imanaga here as he goes back to that elevated fast ball. This time he finds a little something extra at 94 and slips it by the big fella. Swing and a miss. Struck him out. Iagaga picks up his second punch out as the rain starts to fall here at Wrigley. in there. Got him. Wow. So, here we go. Shot Imanaga, the 30-year-old lefty ready to go at Wrigley. Swaying and a miss. Connor Joe is gone. Two away. It’s tougher to stay on plane to get to the high fast. Swing and a miss. Imanaga able to get Oliviveres and he pitches around the leadoff walk. And a swing and a miss. Imanaga gets another. He hasn’t been able to get that high fast ball called, but he’ll get a chase with it almost instantly. There’s a swing and a miss. Triolo down on strikes and a punch out for the lefty. Well, that was a bit of a quick pitch that time, wasn’t it? Swang and a miss. Struck him out. It’s five strikeouts for the lefty. A swing and a miss and Gonzalez has gone on strikes. That’s a half dozen punch outs for Showa. 0 and two. Here comes Immanaga. The strike out. He’s fired up. Seven shut out for Shoto. Go to Imanaga. 196 RA. 6 and1 record for 69 innings of work. First career start against the Cardinals. He was supposed to start against them in St. Louis. Swing and a miss. struck him out and he gets himself yet another swing and miss on that split finger pitch. Furles laces that one to left but half is there and it’s out number two. Swing and a miss. Struck him out. Imanaga gets him. One, two, three, including a couple of punch outs. Line drive caught at third. Morell has it and that’s the inning. Absolutely swing and a miss. Struck him out. Got him on the splitter. win down on strikes and Imanaga looking good here today. He has struck out four. A high fly ball. Right field has it. And that’s the third out of the air. Right field. It’s Suzuki charging in. Seiya has it. And Mike gets him. One, two, three on the ground. Swanson. Throws out Goldmid and Ian with six strong innings here today. Swang and a miss. Struck him out and he made Corman look bad. Back to work here. Two and two. Two on, two out. Got him. And he is fired up. Show Iaga strands two and it stays a one-run Cubs lead. He’s been as good a pitcher as there’s been in the National League this year. Rookie left-hander and all-star Shota Imanaga. The Cubs are 12 and four in his starts. He’s seven and two. Three and two. Imanaga having to work here. Swing and a miss and Santandere is down on strikes and that’s a biggie. Two away. He’ll get a swing here. And he does. And a swing and a miss. So the strike out from Imanaga. Swing and a miss. And down on strikes is Colton Cowser. Check. Swing. Did he go? Yes, he did. Struck him out. And Henderson a little frustrated that Carlson didn’t ask Stu Sherw. Let’s see if we can see. Yeah. Fitty. Here it comes. See you later. Huge strike out for Sha Imanaga as he dots the bottom part of the strike zone right at the knees. Yo swing and a miss. He struck him out. Shota Imanaga. Six shutout innings. Shota 3.06 RA. Fifth best in the senior circuit. He’s only walked 18 guys through 21 starts. just shook off a couple of pitches now ready to roll. They did down and out of the zone and he gets Lane Thomas. Got it. Went up and in. Second strike out. Maya continuing to ask for that fast ball in and executed again there. Perfectly placed over the inside corner. Gets the swing and miss there. One down. Strikeout number three for Shota. Again, count you might anticipate splitter. He just goes with the heater and slips it right by him. to Emanaga. Obviously an all-star, welldeserved allstar. He’s going to get a lot of votes for rookie of the year. He’ll get votes for the Sai Young award. Just been a brilliant performance for the left-hander. The Cubs are 22 and six in his 28 starts. Swing and a miss. Struck him out and after the long delay, a good start for Sha Imanaga. Swing and a miss. Strike three. Another offspe beauty by Imanaga. Second strike out for him. Fast ball. Strike three call. He might have been looking for the splitter and Shota crossed him up with a blazing fast ball for strike three call. Swing and a miss. Strike three got him on a high hard one. That’s the other pitch that gets a lot of strikeouts for Imanaga. The low splitter and the high fast on the ground to short. See if they can turn it. Dansby on the first two and 643. How about seven shut out innings for Shoa Imanaga. Shota Imanaga, Alex Cohen, Jim Deetses, and JD. What an atmosphere here today from Tokyo, Japan. Yeah, man. I was just out on the concourse a little while ago and everybody had a little extra bounce in their step. Fans are fired up, the players are excited, and why not? We got a jam-packed house. We got just a thrilling night of baseball ahead of us and obviously uh kind of underneath everything that the the whole moment that Japanese baseball is having right now and this uh Iaga Yamamoto Otani Suzuki. Uh it’s going to be a lot of fun. So Otani steps to the plate. Comes Dodgers Shot Imanaga versus Show Otani. 2025 Major League Baseball season about to get underway. Chopper towards second. One away. Two caught on a miss. Strike three. Shot Imanaga strikes out Tay Oscar Hernandez at a one, two, three inning to start things off in Tokyo. It’s hit in the air to left. Ian Hap calls off Dansby Swanson makes the catch and Shota Imanaga gets out of the inning. Nothing nothing. Let’s go to the bottom of the second swing and a miss. Strike three. That is the second strike out for Shota. 1-1. Crowder to third. Shaw gobbles it up. Three outs. One, two, three inning from Shota Imanaga. It’s one to nothing Cubs. Will go to the bottom of the third. Those games were wild as well and I was glad the guys got to see the Japanese culture, all the chanting for every hitter and uh it’s a different environment than we’re used to. Very uh European football-like and I’m glad the guys got to see that. The ace of the Cub staff a year ago pitched very well his first time out against the Dodgers in that opening game. Swang and a miss. Imanaga gets Gritic. Swang and a miss and he carves up Corbin Carroll the 2-2. Swang and a miss. Here’s the pitch. Swang and a miss and Moreno is gone. Shota leads him out onto the field. What a first year he put together. And already, what a first couple of starts he has put together here in 2025. And that one is in there. Got him. Machado down on strikes and Shota gets him. One, two, three. Swing and a miss. Struck him out and Machado is gone for the second time today. Yeah, first time he got caught looking at an inside corner fast ball. This time a more typical Imanaga strikeout. The elevated force seamer. Swaging a miss and Merrill is gone. Bad hack by a good hitter. This is a breaking pitch. Normally you’re not going for that collarbone high slider. Swaging a miss. Even Naga gets in. That’s the fourth punch out for Sha coming here in the late stages. Two of them. How high will they go? Here’s Bush. Picks it up. steps on the base and Lockridge is out. Kitty, by the way, that’s the first time he’s ever gotten an out in the eighth inning. But skip, I went deep. Fans are not happy with the pitching change, but there will be a huge ovation. Shota Ianaga taking the mound. And here this afternoon, Shota and the Cubs looking to sweep the Rangers. How spectacular has he been in a Cub uniform? How great has Shota been at home? Swing and a miss. Strike three. That’s out number two. Strikeout number one for Shota. Now the one two on the way. Swing and a miss. Strike three. Shota strikes him out. That is strikeout number two for the Cubs left-hander. The pitch. Swing and a miss. Strike three. A splitter that gets to Varys. Seager swings through that. Seager who homered first time. Fly to left and a punch out. A good fast ball from me managa to finish him off. Shota who had a brilliant start against the Padres’s earlier this year. Fifth start of the season. Take a look at that outstanding erra. And even better than that, look at his record. The Cubs record in games that he has started. Swang and a miss. Bogarts is gone. And Sha’s gotten the first four. He must have got in trouble cuz I think everybody in Chicago knew that split finger was coming there. Swing and a miss. Got him to chase. He went after the splitter. Backto-back strikeouts. And there’s two away. I think the thing that separates and what makes that splitter so good is the fact that he can elevate that fast. Check swing. Went too far. Struck him out. That’s what pitching’s all about right there. A little get over breaking ball to begin with. Then he tries to speed up the bat with something in. And he goes to the chase zone. One, two, cut out and missed. He struck him out. It looked like Machado was thinking splitter and a big strike out. Now two away. Swing and a miss and Hayward is gone. Throw to first to complete it. And now two down. Swing and a miss. Struck him out and Maldonado is gone. They leave a couple. Well, Sha Imanaga has struck out a half dozen. living dangerously in the third and the fourth, but still no score. Arise can’t believe he got rung up on that pitch. It’s seven punch outs now for Shota Imanaga. Shota Ianaga making his sixth start. They’re four hitless against the Dodgers over in Tokyo on opening day and the Cubs are 26 and eight in his starts. That’s a 765 winning percent. Cod on a miss. Strike three. Sha gets the best of Freddy Freeman. Strike out number one. And it’s a big one for out number two. cut on a miss. Strike three. Shot strikes out. That’s a great pitch. Shota freezes Freddy Freeman. He does go with that splitter left on left and good execution. Swing and a miss. Strike three. Strike out number 200 for Shota Ianaga in a Cubs uniform. He KS Kik Hernandez. Two outs. Swing and a miss. Strike three. Shota strikes out Shoi again. One away. Shota Ianaga making another start against the Pirates. See a sparkling 056 erra in his three starts away from Wrigley. 2-2. Got him. Odil Cruz strikes out swinging and Shota Ianaga. Three scoreless innings. Two-2. Got him. So one away. Two nothing Cubs lead. 02. Got him. There’s the call we’ve been looking for. This is a particular challenge for a guy like Shota Imanaga. First ever start against the Yankees. Swang and a miss. And he gets Goldmid. So a big strike out to begin. Lefty to the plate. Swang and a miss. Struck him out. 3-2 in there. Got him looking. Dominguez is gone. Swang and a miss. The one two. See you later. He’s down for the second time. And Imanaga gets the better of him again. In there. Got him. Stanton is gone. No argument. They’ll go up against the lefty showed Imanaga tonight. Three and one since coming back from a hamstring injury. 02 and he gets a swing and miss from Gonzalez on that splitter outside. Lefty on lefty chance with the sweeper and a strike out. Imanaga gives up a double on the first pitch but leaves a man stranded. F. Snider waves and misses. So that Imanaga splitter onetwo pitch to Romy Gonzalez. And he waves and misses to finish off a 1, two, three, nine pitch third inning. And he gets another strike out on that splitter. Four of his 5ks coming on that disappearing split. Connor Wong first pitch swinging. Pops it up. Bush is out. Horner is out. It will be her and I imanaga for a second consecutive start. Goes seven shut out innings. Impressive work. Numbers on show to 297 RA since the beginning of last year. Seventh best among lefties with 150 innings or more right through there. Got him. And Freelick is gone. Swang and a miss. But he got him to chase on the splitter. Two two. Swing and a miss. struck him out. Back in awaiting a 2-2 tipped into the mid of Kelly. Struck him out. The one two swang and a miss. Struck him out. The one two. Swang and a miss. Struck him out. And that’s a half dozen strikeouts for Ianaga. Outside corner. Ring him up. And he’s matched the season high with seven strikeouts. Iaga struck him out. Eight punch outs and five solid innings for Shota Ianaga. Shota Imanaga making start number 16. With him on the mound, the Cubs are 33 and 11. And a swing and a miss. Imanaga gets him. Oh, in there. Got him. And Hayes is gone. Struck him out. Two away. Swag and a miss. And that quickly there are two outs. Swang and a miss. Got him on a splitter. Swang and a miss. He went upstairs, struck him out and Fredle fires outside corner. Got him. De la Cruz knew it. And here comes Craig Council out to get his starter. Should get a nice hand. Seven strikeouts tonight. Six and a third for Shota Imanaga. Really good work. Imanaga very much a flyball pitcher. His strikeout rate is down below average, but his walk rate very good as well. His sweeper against lefties is devastating this year. So he really is tough on lefties and really relies on the fly ball to righties. Bal Burlston was trying to hit a home run there. So hard was that swing. The helmet flew off as Iaga picks up his first strike out. When he loads, he loads up to the baseball, but he has to start it early. It’s too late. He’s late there and a splitter down and away. Backto back punch outs for Imanaga. Well, this is generally how I imanaga finishes off right-handed batters with that splitter down. They’re getting Assad back. They’re getting Tyion back, but I imanaga and Boyd are going to be the guys carry them. And that is strike three. Sha Imanaga strikes out beside Cody here in the second. That’s the most meaningful kind of baseball other than our day-to-day grind here. And call strike three to Herrera. Swinging a miss. Contras chasing Imanaga. Five strikeouts were showed up in Monaga. 3-2 to the former two-way player at East Carolina. Burlson gone again. He was striking guys out in college. He’s been punched out twice tonight. And that’s a half dozen for Shota Imanaga. Forcing fast ball off of that little semi- double leg kick right down the shootute at the knees. And Burlson’s late. Balls in the glove. And as a result, for only the second time in Mosak’s 18 years were they sellers at the deadline. And Imanaga picks up another strike out. He’s got seven as Saji is gone. Wind digs in again and Imanaga fires. And he strikes him out. And that is strikeout number eight for Sha. He’s throwing a lot more of these tonight. Two sweepers and two right-handers. We talked about him getting a little predictable with bats splitter to right. He’s thrown a lot of this two- two ball game. Both starters into the seventh inning. Imanagago works with eight strikeouts. And now nine and Contrarus knew it. There’s just great carry on his four seam fast ball. It’s much more than 91 miles an hour. The active spin, the perfect backspin on it. He’s got 99% active spin, which is the type of spin that creates movement, that riding action. I leads the Cubs out onto the field. Look at these numbers over his last four starts. Yeah. I mean, we’re talking elite strike throwing, the ability to limit limit damage even to a righty. Look at that. That’s league below league average in OPS 22. Triolo swang and a miss. Struck him out and a good start for Mike. Here’s a 3-2 check. Swing. Did he go? You bet. Yes, he did. Phil Cussy rings him up. Got him to chase. It’s strikeout number three for Imanaga. That one is in there and Pagarro is gone on strikes. Here comes the one-two to Canario. Line drive caught by a leaping Swanson on the edge of the outfield grass with the back hand. Once again, Dansby proven why he’s a goal glover as he gets a great jump on this ball. And that’s it. The first step to his right allows him to get extended, get his body going in the right direction, and of course makes a great play. Showed his love in that defense behind him in there. Got him. Ian Naga freezes Pagarero. Strike out number five. Now trying to finish off Canario. Here comes the crowd. 1-1 in the seventh. The pitch gap and swinging. And it was a good split. Imanaga gets Canario. Another quality start for Shota Ianaga who went seven innings giving up just one run on three hits, two walks and struck out six. Shota Imanaga always excited to be out there as the lefty gets the start. Remember he had that injured hamstring May 4th at Milwaukee. It cost him seven weeks of his season and still JD. Last year he was an all-star in the team’s best pitcher and he’s been really good again this year. Right swing and a miss. Splitter that time and Durban is gone. The splitter that behaved like a slider, didn’t it? Watch the action on the split finger diving down and in to Durban. One, two, swing and a miss. Contrarus is gone. Shota pinches around a leadoff single. Good pitch. Struck him out on a slider. Biting away. Yeah, really well executed. Sweeping out that outside corner. Yell just trying to get a piece to stay alive. Comes up empty. Swing and a miss. Struck him out. Chota’s settled into a pretty good groove. Strikeout number four. And it comes on the breaking pitch. Much like the one he threw Yellish, this one stays on the plate. Training can’t make the adjustment and get the barrel to it. Payoff pitch. Yell has gone on strikes and Ianaga continues his roll. Yeah, good call Reese Magguire. Good pitch. Showed Ianaga. Perfectly executed after all those breaking pitches. Slings that fast ball to the outside corner. Fly ball out towards right. Tucker waits on it. Seven strong innings from Shota Imanaga. They face the lefty Shota Imanaga. It hasn’t been our best work so far. Swing and a miss. Schmidt is gone and Ianaga registers the strike out and foul tipped into the mid of Magguire. He held it, struck him out. Swinging and a miss. And Flores has gone on strikes. Strike out number four for Shota. He’s going to develop the feel for that strikeout pitch last couple innings. And delivers a sweeper in there. Got him. Ducks taking the field looking for the series victory with Cha Iaga on the mound. JD, take a look at uh the left-hander. He’s got a 4.6% walk rate. That’s sixth best in the big leagues for pitchers with at least 100 innings pitched. He didn’t walk anybody. Uh fly ball rate is the highest in MLB. It’s in the air quite often. He does give up home runs because of it, but great majority of those are solo home runs. And if you’re looking for a swing and miss from Shota, well, that splitter is a go-to pitch for him. Swing a miss strike three. La down on strikes. Good look at the slider here from Shota. Sweeping out away from Lao. Waits out on the front foot. Nothing left. Can’t make contact. And payoff. It’s a called third strike. Ring him up. Sit him down. says looking back in disbelief, but this pitch is uh right over the heart of the plate and certainly above the knees. Swinging a miss strike three. Jonas strikes out a trio comes down by a score of two to nothing. Swinging a miss strike three slider payoff pitch. He went around strike three. 22 swing and a miss strike three strikeout number six for Shona as Morell goes down on strikes. Yeah, racking up the Ks. The uh the Rays have the 10th highest strikeout rate in MLB and a number of guys in their lineup here today are strikeout prone. Swing miss strike three but upstairs struck out Diaz. One two three half inning for Shimanaga. Swing and a miss strike three. Ibanaga delivers. Swing and a miss. Strike three. Strike on number nine for Shona. And a one, two, three inning here in the top of the fifth. Here’s strikeout number nine.

LHP Shota Imanaga accepts the qualifying offer and will return to the Cubs per multiple reports, including MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand.

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