From Shohei Ohtani’s Heroics to His Own MLB Journey: Shota Imanaga Reflects on 2024 Topps Update Cover
Shota Imanaga can hardly believe the season Shohei Ohtani had. Ohtani was the founding member of the 50/50 club with 54 home runs and 59 stolen bases while adding 134 RBIs with a 1.036 OPS.
A historic season. A memorable season. A once-in-a-generation season.
All the while coming back from Tommy John Surgery.
“It's like if he was in a manga or a comic book being the main character, it would sound so fake that people would think it's a lie of what he's been doing,” Imanaga said through an interpreter. “So it's crazy. Yeah.”
While Ohtani had a crazy season, Imanaga’s first season in Major League Baseball was pretty darn good as well. The Japanese-born left-handed pitcher went 15-3 for the Cubs with a 2.91 ERA in 29 starts.
His success and popularity drew accolades this season, including an All-Star selection.
Imanaga is also the cover athlete for 2024 Topps Baseball Update Series, which drops today. Imanaga joins Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the box.
𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆: Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shota Imanaga are your 2024 Topps Update Series cover athletes. pic.twitter.com/TRxZlw7fnr
— Topps (@Topps) September 13, 2024
Related: 2024 Topps Update: Paul Skenes, Jackson Merrill and More Rookies to Watch
Imanaga and Yamamoto enter a special club as cover athletes for Topps. He becomes the sixth and seventh Japanese-born players to receive the honor joining Ohtani (multiple), Ichiro Suzuki (multiple), Kenta Maeda (2016 Topps Chrome), Masahiro Tanaka/Yu Darvish (2012 Topps Finest) and Seiya Suzuki (2022 Topps Chrome Update Series).
Imanaga is happy to be on the cover, but what caught his eye this year were the fans who asked for his autograph on cards.
“I think any interaction that I've had this year with fans, especially with the rookie card (has been memorable),” said Imanaga, who collected Yu-Gi-Oh! Cards as a kid. “I think that's going to be a good memory.”
It’s not just fans looking for his signature. Sometimes it comes from inside the clubhouse too.
“(Ethan Robert) seems to have a lot of cards,” Imanaga said. “He even asked me to sign a card for him.”
Fans won’t have to go to such big lengths to get Imanaga’s signature. In Topps Update, he has four different autographed cards with his 2024 MLB All-Star Game Autographs being the highlight.
Even with several insert cards of Imanaga in 2024 Topps Update, if Imanaga was going to collect cards, he wouldn’t be chasing his own.
“I think I would start with all the guys who start on our team,” he said.
2024 Topps Baseball Update Series is in stores today.
Susan is an award-winning journalist who spent over a decade working in the sports card industry. You can follow her at twitter.com/yanxchick