Chicago Cubs Star Cy Young Contender In Latest Straw Poll

The Chicago Cubs’ biggest free-agent signing continues to rack up the notices when it comes to potential postseason awards.

May 13, 2024; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; Chicago Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga. / John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

National League Rookie of the Year is not the only award that Chicago Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga is in contention for this season.

Imanaga popped up in the Top 5 of MLB.com’s most recent Cy Young poll, as MLB.com writers voted on their top picks nearly two months into the season.

Imanaga came in third with nine first-place votes. He was behind the Philadelphia Phillies' Zack Wheeler, who led with 19 first-place votes, and the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Tyler Glasnow, who had one fewer first-place votes than Imanaga.

Writers voted using the Cy Young’s system — five points for a first-place vote, four points for a second-place vote, etc…

Recently, The Athletic wrote that Imanaga had a firm hold on the National League Rookie of the Year race after six weeks. Imanaga was followed in that vote by Pirates pitcher James Jones and Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who was the most coveted free-agent pitcher on the market and signed a deal three times more valuable than the one Imanaga signed.

Imanaga is 5-0 with a 0.96 ERA in eight starts this season. His ERA is the fourth lowest in history in a pitcher’s first eight career starts (with a minimum of 40 innings). He also has a 0.94 WHIP, which is fifth-best in the NL.

Imanaga has paid off well above the value of the contract he signed this offseason, which was four years and $53 million. With the myriad of pitching injuries the Cubs have dealt with in their starting rotation, the Japanese left-hander has emerged as their ace in the first two months.

The 30-year-old threw five innings of shutout baseball in his last start against Atlanta on Monday and is 4-0 with a 1.11 ERA in his last seven starts.