Imanaga unfazed by velo dip after short start vs. Sox

CHICAGO -- Left-hander Shota Imanaga has been a bona fide ace for the Cubs since signing a four-year deal with them back before the 2024 season. Some days, though, you just don’t have it.

That was certainly the case on Friday night during the Cubs’ 12-5 loss to the White Sox at Rate Field. Imanaga didn’t have his best stuff in the series opener of the Crosstown Classic. He lasted only three-plus innings and allowed a season-high seven runs.

“He just didn’t have anything tonight, and they made him pay for it,” manager Craig Counsell said. “His stuff wasn’t crisp, and it wasn’t good.”

From the get-go, it was clear Imanaga wasn’t going to have his usual success on the mound. He served up a leadoff home run to Chase Meidroth on an 89.3 mph fastball that stayed in the middle of the zone and allowed five of the first six White Sox batters to get a hit.

Things didn’t improve much for him in the second through fourth innings. That led to his departure at the top of the fourth after allowing a home run and a double to the first two batters in that inning.

“Just left a few pitches up more than he normally does, and they put some good swings on him,” catcher Reese McGuire said. “But we were able to look at some of the things that he did well and try to build off that. But a couple of big part of the plate misses, and they didn’t miss their swing tonight.”

Imanaga did his best to give the Cubs as many innings as he could Friday. The southpaw allowed a career-high 12 hits. Three innings tied the shortest start of his young career, and seven earned runs tied for the second-most runs allowed in a start in his career.

“The velo was down, not great location,” Counsell said. “It just shows the fine line of pitching in the big leagues of what success and struggles look like. It’s hard to believe that’s the pitcher you saw the last two times make a start. That’s how it works.”

Imanaga not only was sharp in his previous two outings (one run across 14 innings), but he had a 1.78 ERA in his first five starts back from a left hamstring strain. But Imanaga’s fastball velocity was down 1.8 mph on Friday from his usual average velocity (90.9 mph). All three of the home runs he allowed came on his four-seam fastball.

On each of those homers, Imanaga appeared to have missed his spots. His homers allowed to Meidroth and Colson Montgomery came on pitches down the middle. The other homer, to Austin Slater in the fourth, came on an 88.9 mph fastball up in the zone.

Despite the unexpected velocity dip, Imanaga is not overly concerned with moving forward.

“Post-injury, my velo has been a little lower than usual, so that’s something I need to work on,” Imanaga said through interpreter Edwin Stanberry. “Just physical condition-wise, I feel like there’s stuff I need to improve on from tonight, as well.

“I’ve had it in the past where sometimes, even if the velo is down, try to make it look like it’s coming out faster. Even if it is down, try to not miss my spots. But I wasn’t able to do that tonight.”

It was surely a peculiar outing, considering how dominant Imanaga has been. The 31-year-old has a career 2.97 ERA and 229 strikeouts in 251 1/3 innings in his two MLB seasons. More importantly, the Cubs are 32-11 in Imanaga’s 43 career starts.

While Friday’s outing was uncharacteristic for Imanaga, it’s starts like that one that are massive lessons for a pitcher who is only in his second Major League season.

“I just think I need to work on my skills,” Imanaga said. “I’ve had that in the past, where maybe physically I don’t feel 100% or at my A game. But I still managed to figure out ways to compete. I think tonight, the opposition, they just came out on top. So I need to figure out a way to work on that.”