Imanaga rewarded with placement on All-MLB Second Team
Jordan Bastian
@MLBastianCHICAGO -- Shota Imanaga authored one of the great rookie seasons in the long, storied history of the Cubs this year. Now, the left-hander has been rewarded by baseball fans and a panel of experts with a place on the 2024 All-MLB Team presented by MGM Rewards.
As part of Thursday¡¯s All-MLB Awards Show, Imanaga was voted onto the All-MLB Second Team for his performance this past season with the Cubs. That follows his stellar showing in ¡®24 for Chicago, which included a place on the National League All-Star team and a part in the first Cubs no-hitter at Wrigley Field since 1972.
¡°I'm not sure he can do much better than last year,¡± president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said during the General Managers Meetings in San Antonio earlier this month. ¡°He had such a great year.¡±
Imanaga was named to the All-MLB Second Team, along with starters Seth Lugo (Royals), Dylan Cease (Padres), Framber Valdez (Astros) and Michael King (Padres). The starting pitchers voted onto the All-MLB First Team included Chris Sale (Braves), Tarik Skubal (Tigers), Paul Skenes (Pirates), Zack Wheeler (Phillies) and Corbin Burnes (Orioles).
Last offseason, Imanaga joined the Cubs via a four-year, $53 million contract after starring for Yokohama in Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan and helping Team Japan capture gold in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. Nicknamed ¡°The Throwing Philosopher¡± in Japan, Imanaga quickly showed his ability to learn, adapt and execute on the Major League stage.
Overall, the 31-year-old Imanaga finished his rookie tour 15-3 with a 2.91 ERA in 29 starts for the Cubs. He was tied with Luis Gil of the Yankees for the most wins by a rookie, while leading all Major League rookies in both strikeouts (174) and innings (173 1/3). Imanaga¡¯s 6.2 strikeout-to-walk ratio led all qualified pitchers in the NL.
Imanaga began his season by going 5-0 with a 0.84 ERA in his first nine starts, picking up the NL¡¯s Rookie of the Month Award for March-April in the process. The lefty also set the record for lowest ERA through a starting pitcher¡¯s first nine turns (since 1913, excluding openers), topping the 0.91 mark spun by Fernando Valenzuela in his brilliant ¡®81 campaign with the Dodgers.
On Sept. 4, Imanaga logged seven scoreless innings to begin a combined no-hitter against the Pirates, marking the first no-no for the Cubs at Wrigley Field in more than 50 years. That outing was part of a strong finish by Imanaga, who went 6-0 with a 2.25 ERA in his final six turns of the season for the North Siders.