Shota Imanaga - MLB News, Rumors, & Updates

Guardians Rookie Parker Messick Loses No-Hitter in the 9th Inning

Cleveland Guardians rookie Parker Messick came up three outs short of breaking the longest no-hitter drought held by an MLB franchise.

3 DAYS AGO • FOX SPORTS

Guardians Rookie Parker Messick Loses No-Hitter in the 9th Inning

Shota Imanaga ties Cubs record with gem vs. Phillies | Sporting News The Japanese left-hander had himself a night.

4 DAYS AGO • SPORTINGNEWS.COM

Delivers another gem Imanaga (1-1) earned the win, allowing one run on three hits and one walk while striking out 11 over six innings in Wednesday's victory over the Phillies.

Impact Imanaga gave up a leadoff homer to Trea Turner on just the second pitch of the game, but was nearly untouchable the rest of the way. The left-hander settled in and went on to record multiple strikeouts in five separate innings, overpowering Philadelphia's lineup. His 11 punchouts tied a career high, and he generated an eye-popping 26 whiffs in one of the most dominant starts of his career. Imanaga has looked absolutely fantastic over his last two outings, striking out 20 while allowing just one run across 12 innings. Chicago's ace is slated to face Philadelphia again in his next start, this time back at Wrigley Field.

4 DAYS AGO • ROTOWIRE

Imanaga ties Cubs' single-game mark with 26(!) whiffs in 11-K gem PHILADELPHIA -- From his position at second base on the Citizens Bank Park infield, Nico Hoerner had a great view of Shota Imanaga's pitches...

4 DAYS AGO • MLB.COM

Hoerner drives in 5 runs, Imanaga strikes out 11 to lead Cubs past Phillies

Nico Hoerner drove in a career-high five runs, Shota Imanaga struck out 11 in six strong innings and the Chicago Cubs routed the Philadelphia Phillies 11-2 on Wednesday night

4 DAYS AGO • Associated Press

Brilliant outing goes to waste Imanaga came away with a no-decision Friday as the Cubs fell 2-0 to the Pirates, striking out nine and walking one over six scoreless, no-hit innings.

Impact The southpaw was dominant, firing 68 strikes on 100 pitches while generating 30 called or swinging strikes, but Chicago's offense couldn't push any runs across against Carmen Mlodzinski. Once Imanaga left the mound, Pittsburgh immediately struck for two runs in the top of the seventh. Imanaga will take a 2.81 ERA, 0.81 WHIP and 20:4 K:BB through 16 innings into his next outing, which is set to come on the road next week in Philadelphia.

APRIL 10 • ROTOWIRE

Bryan Reynolds homers as the Pittsburgh Pirates blank the Chicago Cubs 2-0

Bryan Reynolds hit a two-run homer and Carmen Mlodzinski pitched six-hit ball into the sixth inning, helping the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs 2-0

APRIL 10 • Associated Press

Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga working on a no-hitter through 6 innings against Pirates Chicago Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga is working on a no-hitter going into the seventh inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates

APRIL 10 • ABCNEWS.COM

Pirates get 1st hit off Cubs' Thielbar in 7th inning after Imanaga departs

Shota Imanaga pitched six sharp innings for the Chicago Cubs before Ryan O’Hearn led off the seventh with a single to right off Caleb Thielbar for Pittsburgh’s first hit of the gam...

APRIL 10 • Associated Press

Cubs vs. Pirates Probable Starting Pitchers – April 10 The Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates will send Shota Imanaga and Carmen Mlodzinski to the mound, respectively, on Friday at Wrigley Field...

APRIL 10 • BLEACHERNATION.COM

Gets back on track Sunday Imanaga didn't factor into the decision Sunday against the Guardians, allowing one run on three hits and one walk in five innings. He struck out four.

Impact The left-hander found a rhythm in his second start of the season, considering he was coming off a poor season debut that saw him cough up four runs to Washington. Imanaga fired five shutout frames before coming out for the sixth inning but was pulled after giving up a leadoff double to Steven Kwan, who eventually came around to score. Imanaga sports an 11:3 K:BB over his first 10 frames of 2026, and a favorable home matchup versus the Pirates is on tap for his next start.

APRIL 6 • ROTOWIRE

Cubs-Guardians postponed Imanaga won't start as scheduled Saturday against the Guardians, as the game was postponed due to rain, Tim Stebbins of MLB.com reports.

Impact The two teams will play a doubleheader Sunday to make up Saturday's game, and Imanaga will likely take the mound to start one of the two contests. The 32-year-old southpaw will be looking to bounce back from a poor showing in his season debut, during which he allowed four earned runs on six hits and two walks over five innings.

APRIL 4 • ROTOWIRE

Cubs' Craig Counsell said the worst possible thing about Shota Imanaga | Sporting News What did the Cubs manager have to say?

MARCH 30 • SPORTINGNEWS.COM

Ambushed early in first loss Imanaga (0-1) took the loss Sunday against the Nationals, allowing four runs on six hits and two walks in five innings. He struck out seven.

Impact The left-hander wasn't sharp to begin his season debut, as he was ambushed by Washington for three runs in the opening frame, but he was at least able to settle in a bit thereafter. Imanaga displayed plenty of swing-and-miss stuff as well, registering an impressive 16 whiffs Sunday. Imanaga will be trying to get back on track in his next scheduled outing, which is set come in Cleveland versus the Guardians next weekend.

MARCH 29 • ROTOWIRE

Nationals take opening series in Chicago with 6-3 win over Cubs

Joey Wiemer and Keibert Ruiz homered and the Washington Nationals earned a season-opening series win with a 6-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs

MARCH 29 • Associated Press

Touching Base: Cubs Have a Revamped Look and Even Bigger Expectations

The Cubs finally ended a four-year playoff drought in 2025, but they have bigger goals in 2026.

MARCH 26 • FOX SPORTS

Touching Base: Cubs Have a Revamped Look and Even Bigger Expectations

How to live stream Chicago Cubs games: Watch MLB 2026, TV channel Led by a young group of rising stars, including Pete Crow-Armstrong, the Chicago Cubs enter the 2026 MLB season as one of the teams to watch...

MARCH 26 • THEBIGLEAD.COM

Cubs' Shota Imanaga could be in store for his best season to date | Sporting News Backspin will play a key role in the lefty's success.

MARCH 13 • SPORTINGNEWS.COM

May slot into No. 3 role With Matthew Boyd named Chicago's Opening Day starter, Imanaga could be the team's No. 3 pitcher behind Cade Horton, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

Impact Imanaga was seen as an option for the Opening Day assignment, but Chicago will instead turn to Boyd for the third time in his career and first with the Cubs. The team hasn't officially announced its plans behind Boyd, though slotting Horton second and Imanaga third would allow Chicago to go lefty-righty-lefty. If Imanaga is the No. 3 starter, his first appearance of the regular season would be March 29 against the Nationals at Wrigley Field.

MARCH 13 • ROTOWIRE

White Sox take down Shota Imanaga with three home runs in early spring statement The White Sox did something few lineups have managed this spring by getting to Shota Imanaga early. In just a three inning outing, Imanaga a...

MARCH 5 • SOUTHSIDESHOWDOWN.COM

Notes on Shota Imanaga's Latest Spring Training Start A trio of home runs giving up by Shota Imanaga, but not necessarily a reason for concern.

MARCH 2 • BLEACHERNATION.COM

Cubs' Shota Imanaga offers humorous commentary on Okamoto and Murakami's career home runs The Chicago Cubs boast Shota Imanaga as their representative from Japan. While Kazuma Okamoto and Munetaka Murakami have found homes with ot...

FEBRUARY 26 • BOLAVIP.COM

Velocity up in spring debut Imanaga allowed three hits across two scoreless innings in Tuesday's Cactus League game against the Padres. He struck out one.

Impact Making his spring debut, Imanaga looked sharp as he logged 33 pitches. Most notably, his fastball velocity was 93 mph on average in the contest, which is up from last season's 90.8 mph average, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports. This supports reports coming out of camp about increased velocity for Imanaga. It remains to be seen if this is just a blip for the southpaw in a short start or something he can actually sustain throughout the year. If Imanaga can regularly throw harder, he might be able to improve upon last season's 7.3 K/9, which was down from the 9.0 K/9 he recorded during his 2024 rookie campaign.

FEBRUARY 25 • ROTOWIRE

In spring debut, Imanaga already seeing encouraging uptick in velocity MESA, Ariz. -- There was a significantly larger crowd of Japanese media gathered around Cubs starter Shota Imanaga after his spring debut on...

FEBRUARY 25 • MLB.COM

Healthy again, Cade Horton looking for a big second season with the Chicago Cubs

Cade Horton was a breakout performer for the Chicago Cubs last year

FEBRUARY 19 • Associated Press

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