Cubs Set Up Ace to Receive Unusual Honor in Wrigley Field Return

The Chicago Cubs announced another starter for the Arizona Diamondbacks series and did so for a specific reason.

Matthew Postins | Mar 23, 2025

Mar 18, 2025; Bunkyo, Tokyo, JPN; Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Shota Imanaga (18) delivers a pitch against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the first inning during the Tokyo Series at Tokyo Dome. / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

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Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs are finally over their jet lag from the trip to Japan for the Tokyo Series and are getting the business of “re-opening” their season next week against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Chicago (0-2) will remain in Arizona once spring training breaks and start a four-game series with the D-backs on Thursday, which will be their home opener. Recently, the Cubs set their first two starters for the series, as they’ll go with left-hander Justin Steele on Thursday and then right-hander Jameson Taillon on Friday.

In advance of Chicago's spring training game with the Colorado Rockies on Saturday, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported that the Cubs have slotted Shota Imanaga as their starter for the third game of the series, which will be next Saturday.

Imanaga started the season opener in Japan, giving him the honor of not only starting on MLB opening day for the first time but also starting in front of his countryman against another Japanese starter, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

The 31-year-old left-hander didn’t get the decision, but he was great. He threw four innings of no-hit baseball. He did walk four hitters, but he also struck out two.

Imanaga’s start in Arizona will also set him up to, barring anything unforeseen, start the Cubs’ home opener against the San Diego Padres at Wrigley Field on April 4.

How?

The Cubs wrap up their series with the Diamondbacks the Sunday after Imanaga’s start. From there, the Cubs become the first team to visit Sacramento to face the Athletics, who are playing there while waiting for their stadium to be built in Las Vegas.

It’s a three-game series in Sacramento, followed by a flight back to Chicago and an off-day on Thursday. That would allow Imanaga to pitch on regular rest.

That would give him the unusual honor of starting two different openers in the same season, in this case a neutral-site season opener and a home opener.

Imanaga is coming off a tremendous rookie season. Last year he went 15-3 with a 2.91 ERA in 29 starts, with 174 strikeouts and 28 walks in 173.1 innings. He was an All-Star, finished fourth in NL rookie of the year voting and fifth in NL Cy Young voting.

Steele, who started on opening day for the Cubs last year, started the second game for the Cubs in Japan. He threw four innings, giving up five hits and five earned runs. He struck out five and walked one.

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