Before the 2024 season, the Chicago Cubs struck out on their top options and were left with a consolation prize. That player has surpassed every expectation.
Now that the baseball season is past opening weekend, initial reactions to how the season has begun have begun to file in.
MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince has been responding to a few interesting ones, one of which involved the Cubs.
A reader posited that Chicago ace Shota Imanaga "is the best Japanese pitcher in the league and it's not close at the moment."
While Castrovince said that it was a stretch to say that it isn't close, he did deem that it was a "statistically defensible reaction."
That doesn't seem to do the claim justice. As of right now, it would be hard to argue that there is any other Japanese-born pitcher in baseball performing better than Imanaga is.
The 31-year-old lefty has already made two starts this season, and he's been lights out in both.
He has a 0.82 ERA, a 0.82 WHIP and a 544 ERA+. He isn't striking batters out at a great rate (4.9 K/9), but has only given up three hits in 11 innings.
If his walk numbers (4.9 BB/9) were a bit better, he'd be getting much more hype than he is right now.
When he was entering the MLB, there were hopes that he would be solid. Few expected him to become the ace that he has shaped up to be so far.
Imanaga is a location master, which is why his walks aren't a very scary issue right now. He doesn't have overwhelming velocity, which is why many thought that his game wouldn't translate or batters would adjust.
Now that he's 31 games into his career and batters aren't seeing him any better, it seems safe to say that he'll be just fine.
The only other Japanese-born pitcher that has a claim would be Los Angeles Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who is having a great start in his own right.
Yamamoto has the strikeout juice that Imanaga lacks, but has a 2.70 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP. Imanaga has the slight edge there, including in more advanced stats like ERA+ and FIP.
He also has the added benefit of being better and more polished in 2024.
The conversation will be become more muddied once Roki Sasaki gets settled with the Dodgers and Shohei Ohtani returns to the mound. For now, though, Imanaga is the top Japanese pitcher in MLB.
