Shota Imanaga Makes Baseball History Through First Nine Starts

With yet another dominant performance on Saturday afternoon against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs' rookie Shota Imanaga has done something never done before in baseball history through his first nine starts.

May 18, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga (18) enters the field / Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports

With another dominant outing on Saturday afternoon against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs' rookie Shota Imanaga has made baseball history through his first nine starts.

Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com:

SHOTA IMANAGA’S 0.84 ERA IS THE LOWEST IN A PITCHER’S 1ST 9 CAREER STARTS SINCE ER OFFICIAL IN BOTH LEAGUES (1913) [excluding openers]

only other under 1.00: 1981 Fernando Valenzuela, 0.91

SHOTA IMANAGA’S 0.84 ERA IS THE LOWEST IN A PITCHER’S 1ST 9 CAREER STARTS SINCE ER OFFICIAL IN BOTH LEAGUES (1913) [excluding openers]

only other under 1.00: 1981 Fernando Valenzuela, 0.91 https://t.co/HftudO40cm

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) May 18, 2024

The lefty from Japan went 7.0 scoreless innings against the division rivals, surrendering just four hits and one walk while striking out seven.

While much of the offseason discussion was centered around team's potentially signing Blake Snell or Jordan Montgomery, Imanaga is going to turn out to be the best signing of them all.

Imanaga won't factor into the decision in this one, as the score is 0-0 currently in the eighth inning, as of this posting.

He's now struck out 58 batters in 53.2 innings and has a WHIP of 0.91. He's 5-0 this season for the Cubs, who are looking to challenge the Milwaukee Brewers for first place in the National League Central.

The Cubs and Pirates will play each other again on Sunday afternoon with the first pitch slatd for 2:20 p.m. ET. Mitch Keller (4-3, 3.93 ERA) will get the ball for Pittsburgh while Jameson Taillon pitches for the Cubs. He's 3-1 with a 1.61 ERA since returning from the injured list.

As for Imanaga's next start, it could come next Thursday against the Atlanta Braves or it could come next Friday against the St. Louis Cardinals.

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