Comparing Shota Imanaga's season to other Chicago Cubs rookies

Dennis Lamp (1978)

After a brief stint in 1977, Dennis Lamp had a strong start with the Cubs in 1978, pitching to a 3.30 ERA over 223.2 innings and 4.0 WAR. His unimpressive 7-15 win/loss record was mostly due to the fact that the Cubs gave him very little run support that year. Lamp had a solid 1979 season as well before a poor 1980 season prompted the Cubs to trade him to the White Sox. Lamp would go on to have a solid but unremarkable career, finishing with a 96-96 win/loss record and a career 3.93 ERA, good for a slightly above average 104 ERA+.

Kerry Wood (1998)

One of the most famous aspects of Wood's rookie year was his 20-strikeout game against the Houston Astros where he became the second pitcher in Major League history to strike out their age in a game, joining Bob Feller, who struck out 17 batters as a 17-year-old in 1936. Although Wood was off to a rocky start in 1998, after his 20-strikeout game, he finished the season strong, putting up an ERA of 3.40 along with 233 strikeouts in 166.2 innings pitched. Wood won the 1998 NL Rookie of the Year award, beating out Todd Helton. Although Tommy John surgery sidelined Wood for the 1999 season, he returned the next year and was once again a dominant starter between 2001 and 2003. Injuries took a toll on Wood's career and he was never the same pitcher after 2004. He had a solid season as the Cubs' closer in 2008 before moving to Cleveland as their closer in 2009. After a brief stint with the Yankees, Wood returned to Chicago in 2011 to close out his career.