Shota Imanaga will not pitch in the season finale, capping a spectacular rookie year

Cubs manager Craig Counsell told the media Saturday morning that Shota Imanaga will not pitch in the season finale against the Reds. Per Chicago Tribune's Meghan Montemurro, Counsell said Imanaga is fine physically, but in a good place to call it a season with nothing at stake in game 162.

The 31-year-old southpaw pitched to a 2.91 ERA, 3.72 FIP, 1.02 WHIP, 9.03 K/9, 1.5 BB/9 and was a 3.1 fWAR player in 173.1 innings (29 starts). He was the Cubs' lone All-Star in 2024 and won 15 decisions.

Imanaga was one of, if not the brightest spot on the Cubs in 2024. Coming over from Japan last winter, there were questions about how he would adjust in the Majors as a flyball-heavy pitcher with a low-90s heater. It seemed reasonable to think the best-case scenario was a mid-high 3.00s ERA, but he finished among the best in the National League. He even sported a sub-1.00 ERA over his first six starts and didn't go above a 2.00 ERA until his 14th outing, a start to an MLB career comparable to Fernando Valenzuela.

Imanaga used primarily his four-seam fastball and splitter, along with some offspeed, breaking balls (sweeper, curve) and cutters. The splitter generated a 43 percent whiff rate and was the least hard hit of his pitches (29.3 percent). Per Baseball Savant Statcast data, he was much heavier with the sweeper to lefties while registering more curveballs and changeups to righties.

Control helped Shota Imanaga overcome struggles with the long ball

The biggest asset for Imanaga was his command. In terms of walk rate, he ranked in the 97th percentile. His 4 percent walk rate ranked among the best amongst big-league starting pitchers this year. This was so important because, like in Japan, he tended to give up the home run ball. He was among the top in baseball, giving up home runs (27) in 2024. However, his ability to keep traffic off the bases kept many of those homers as fairly harmless solo shots. It was not unusual for Imanaga to have a multi-run lead and see an opposing batter aggressively take a home run swing on the first pitch in the zone. Those things did not rattle him much and he could get back on track quickly.

Outside of his work on the mound, Imanaga was a great personality and became a fan favorite very quickly. He won the hearts of fans in his opening presser at Cubs Convention when he recited Go Cubs Go. Not to mention walking out to Chelsea Dagger, the goal song used by the Chicago Blackhawks in the Home Opener.

Hats off to Imanaga on a great first season in the bigs and as a Cub. It might be over for now, but before we know it, 2025 will arrive and "Sho Time" will return.