Chicago Cubs: Shota Imanaga still getting crushed, despite velocity boost

The Chicago Cubs went through a bit of a contractual tussle with pitcher Shota Imanaga this past offseason, with each side declining options before finally settling on a one-year $22 million qualifying offer deal.

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The misgivings and doubts on the Cubs’ side seemed to be based on a rough 2025 that, while statistically solid (9-8, 3.73 ERA over 25 starts and 144.2 innings), saw significant decline in the Japanese lefty’s effectiveness.

Imanaga’s comeback from bad 2025 finish

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Hampered by an early-May hamstring injury, the first lower-body injury of his career, Imanaga struggled to get back on track upon return. By the end of the season, he was getting hit hard, giving up 20 of his 31 home runs in his final 12 starts and posting a 6.51 ERA in the month of September. An 8.10 ERA in his two abbreviated postseason starts caused manager Craig Counsell to relegate him to a playoff bench spot.

This offseason, though, Imanaga has worked on conditioning and technique and came into spring training, literally, throwing faster than ever. His average fastball velocity is riding at 92.8 mph, up from 90.8 mph last year and even up from his 91.7 mph average in his stellar 2024 rookie season.

Unfortunately, he’s still getting hit hard.

Still getting hit hard

In Saturday’s game against the A’s at Sloan park, despite boosted velocity that touched 95.1 mph at one point, Imanaga gave up 5 hits and 3 earned runs in 3.2 innings pitched, allowing one home run. This spring, in total, he’s posted a 6.48 ERA over 3 appearances and has given up 4 home runs in 8.1 innings.

Right now, nobody seems to be in panic mode. There will always be the reasoning that this is still spring training and that Imanaga, specifically, is in a mode where he’s working on health, conditioning, and overall feel more than stats and on-field outcomes.

But it has to be in the back of everyone’s mind– what if 2026 Imanaga is the same as late-2025 Imanaga?

In that case, the Cubs would have to dip into their starting pitching reserves (Colin Rea, Javier Assad, Ben Brown) and/or wait on Justin Steele to get back in full swing.

For now, though, Chicago seems focused on the positive and on the fact that their southpaw starter is feeling good and that his velocity shows it.

“First of all, it gives him a ton of confidence,” Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy told media. “What he felt at the end of the year last year was he just couldn’t do what he was trying to do, physically… So one big goal for him this offseason was just getting stronger, getting back to that lower-body delivery that he knew he could get to.”

Soon enough, we’ll get the full feel for where Imanaga’s at and what needs to be done down the line.

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Source: https://www.chicitysports.com/chicago-cubs-shota-imanaga-spring-training-velocity/