The Chicago Cubs were taking on the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night in the first of a six-game divisional road trip.
With superstar ace Shota Imanaga on the mound, hopes were high to be able to get the series started on the right foot.
That goal was off to a tremendous start with Imanaga dealing five scoreless innings and the Cubs leading 4-0.
In the bottom of the sixth inning while facing the first batter, Imanaga winced after a pitch in which he gave up a double to Andrew McCutchen.
He was removed from the game after throwing 87 pitches, appearing to point to his right knee when medical staff came to check on him:
In a replay of the pitch, broadcasters could not detect anything off with the delivery, but Imanaga was clearly hobbling a bit walking off the field:
With pitching depth that is already thin at best especially following a season-ending injury to fellow left-handed star Justin Steele, missing Imanaga for any sort of significant amount of time would be absolutely devastating.
Removing Imanaga from the game could have just been precautionary with the ace having already thrown a significant amount of pitches and nearing the end of the start anyway.
Fortunately, per Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times, the Cubs announced that Imanaga left the game due to leg cramps.
In 39 innings pitched this year, Imanaga sports a 2.77 ERA and 1.13 WHIP along with a 2-1 record which would turn to 3-1 if the Cubs hold on for the victory.
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