PHILADELPHIA -- Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy was exchanging text messages with lefty Shota Imanaga on Tuesday, checking in a day after the pitcher logged his first game action since being shelved with a left hamstring injury last month.
Imanaga was heading out to the field at Chicago’s Arizona complex to play catch, but it was all good news.
“He’s feeling great,” Hottovy said prior to the club’s 8-4 win over the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. “No issues right now.”
The countdown to Imanaga’s return to the Cubs’ rotation is underway now that he is beginning a regular five-day routine and getting back into game settings. The way things have been progressing and are mapped out right now, Imanaga looks on target to return before the end of June, barring anything unexpected.
Imanaga, who is on the 15-day injured list, logged 25 pitches for the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League Cubs in a game against the Rockies’ affiliate on Monday night. He racked up four strikeouts, allowed one hit and threw an additional 15 pitches in the bullpen after his outing to get his pitch count up.
“He looked really good,” Hottovy said. “[His velocity] was probably 88-90 [mph] -- pretty consistent with where we’d expect him to be in kind of a lower environment. The pitch shapes were good. A lot of good [elevation] on the fastball. I think the things he was working on and feeling through in the week leading up to it, he did a great job of taking into the game.”
Hottovy said the current plan calls for Imanaga to go through his normal program this week before making another ACL start on Saturday. The goal is to get Imanaga up to three innings (or 50-55 pitches) in that next appearance. From there, Imanaga would likely move his rehab to Triple-A Iowa.
“Everything was good. It was two pretty clean innings,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “All good news.”
The National League Central-leading Cubs are looking forward to having Imanaga back in the fold as the team pushes for its first postseason berth since 2020.
“We’re excited to get Shota back,” Cubs starter Matthew Boyd said. “Man, he has such an impact, not only in our clubhouse, but obviously on the mound. He’s doing what he can to get back as soon as he can.”
In eight starts this season, the 31-year-old Imanaga has spun a 2.82 ERA with 34 strikeouts and 14 walks in 44 2/3 innings. It was a solid continuation of his incredible rookie campaign last season, but his season hit a snag on May 4 in Milwaukee. Imanaga pulled up while running to cover first base and landed on the IL with the hamstring setback.
Entering Tuesday’s game in Philadelphia, Chicago’s rotation -- also without lefty Justin Steele (left elbow surgery) for the rest of the season -- had combined for a 4.34 ERA dating back to May 5. Veterans Jameson Taillon (3.19 ERA) and Boyd (3.05 ERA) have led the group during that span, while rookie Cade Horton and righties Ben Brown and Colin Rea have also helped keep things intact.
“Everybody’s supporting each other. Everybody knows what the goal is,” Hottovy said. “When you lose a guy like Steele and Shota, everybody can be like, ‘Oh my gosh, what are we going to do?’ Guys have just stepped up. That’s been the best part about this group.
“We know the version of the staff we have today could look very different in a month or two. But everybody knows that they have a role to play in this process and it’s a long season.”