CHICAGO -- After getting his first taste of the Wrigley Field crowd last season, Shota Imanaga joked that he wanted to turn the sound of the Cubs¡¯ energetic home audience into his morning alarm. The more the pitcher thought about that idea, the more he realized that it would eventually become a problem.
¡°If I did that, I would show up to the field late,¡± Imanaga said on Friday afternoon via his interpreter, Edwin Stanberry. ¡°I¡¯d want to continue to listen to the roar of the crowd.¡±
Imanaga is no longer learning about Cubs fans, who also know what type of show they are in for when the lefty takes the hill at the Friendly Confines. And in Friday¡¯s home opener, he embraced the noise and the brisk conditions while piecing together a strong performance, guiding the Cubs to a 3-1 victory over the Padres.
Before the game, Cubs manager Craig Counsell cracked a smile when asked if there was a different feel to this home opener, given that he is now in his second season at the helm for the North Siders.
¡°I tried to make it feel identical -- I had Shota pitch,¡± Counsell quipped.
On the April 1 home opener a year ago, Imanaga began his brilliant rookie campaign with six scoreless innings against the Rockies in a 5-0 win at Wrigley. The pitcher had already won over Cubs fans in his introductory press conference, but that game was their first look at him on the mound in what developed into a tour worthy of National League Cy Young Award and Rookie of the Year consideration.
For fans and opposing teams, the book on Imanaga is out.
¡°It¡¯s just a good pitcher,¡± Counsell said.
Out of the gates this season, Imanaga has faced the World Series-champion Dodgers as the Opening Day starter in the Tokyo Series, a potent D-backs lineup on the road and a Padres team that arrived in Chicago with a 7-0 record. The lefty walked off the mound Friday with two wins, a 0.98 ERA and a well-earned standing ovation.
¡°Shota just gives us a chance to make plays,¡± Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong said. ¡°Shota did what Shota does. He got us involved, and that¡¯s all we can really ask for from him.¡±
That included in the second inning, when Xander Bogaerts ripped a pitch from Imanaga high over left-center field, where a stiff wind pushed the ball across the gap and to the wall. Crow-Armstrong raced to his right -- hitting a sprint speed of 28.0 ft/sec, per Statcast -- and ran the ball down before hitting the bricks and bare ivy vines.
Imanaga grimaced from the mound after seeing his center fielder run into the wall to make the play (one with a 30% catch probability).
¡°When the ball was hit, I was thinking, ¡®OK, that¡¯s probably going to be a double or more,¡¯¡± Imanaga said. ¡°All of a sudden, Pete showed up and caught it. That was a fantastic play.¡±
The Cubs backed Imanaga with a bases-loaded walk from Nico Hoerner in the first inning and a two-run burst in the fifth. In that second push, Justin Turner sent a pitch into the hole at shortstop, where Bogaerts gloved the grounder and tried to get the third out at second base. Seiya Suzuki narrowly beat the throw, resulting in a go-ahead RBI single for Turner.
It was the latest example of the aggressive baserunning that has been an emphasis for the Cubs this season.
¡°It was a great effort by Seiya,¡± Counsell said. ¡°It¡¯s great attention to detail.¡±
That was all the support Imanaga needed.
The lefty worked into the eighth inning for the Cubs, finishing with just one run allowed over 7 1/3 frames. Imanaga¡¯s lone blemish arrived in the third inning, when Padres catcher Mart¨ªn Maldonado -- a player who entered the day with a .343 career slugging percentage -- sent a pitch into the basket above the left-field wall.
Imanaga, who had four strikeouts and no walks in the win, has now worked 18 1/3 innings this season with only two earned runs allowed through his first three starts. Flash back to a year ago, Imanaga began his Cubs career with only one run (unearned) in his first three outings (15 1/3 innings).
The pitcher gives some of the credit to the Cubs¡¯ fans.
¡°Listening to the roar of the crowd,¡± Imanaga said, ¡°it really gives me almost another layer of armor, another layer or protection that I can feel. So I'm very appreciative of them.¡±