Chicago Cubs Rookie Officially Sets Major League Record With Historic Outing

The Chicago Cubs pitcher has set a new MLB record in his latest outing.

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

The Chicago Cubs unexpectedly signed one of the best pitchers in the league and he keeps breaking records.

Shota Imanaga's latest feat is getting his ERA down to 0.84, which is the lowest number for a pitcher in his first nine career starts since ER became official in 1913 per Sarah Langs. The only other pitcher under 1.00 ERA in that time frame was Fernando Valenzuela in 1981.

Imanaga went seven innings without giving up a run to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday afternoon as the Cubs won a thriller.

The Japan native has been completely dominant to start his career.

Through 53 2/3 innings of work, he's allowed just 40 hits and walked eight batters. He's given up three home runs and just five total earned runs.

When he was signed out of Nippon Professional Baseball, it was viewed as a bit of a consolation prize for missing out on Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Both of their MLB careers could turn out to be great, but Chicago is not upset without how things have worked out so far.

Imanaga was a two-time All-Star in the NPB and even pitched a no-hitter back in 2022.

He's a master of control and getting batters to chase pitches. He doesn't dominate with a crazy fastball, just 91 mph, but that hasn't really affected him.

The southpaw is likely to regress a little bit as batters adjust to him, but his stuff isn't likely to drop off a cliff. The 30-year-old's xERA is up at 2.59, but that is still one of the best marks in the league.

He just doesn't get hit very hard, leading to a low BABIP as well.

The Cubs have control of him until 2030, which will be at the tail end of his career anyway. This was a home run signing that just continues to look better and better.