SI

Shota Imanaga Showed Up to Work With Extra Coffee for a Diehard Fan

Imanaga is pure class.

Josh Wilson

Shota Imanaga of the Chicago Cubs
Shota Imanaga of the Chicago Cubs / Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
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Shota Imanaga didn't exactly have a perfect day on the bump Thursday night, giving up four earned runs on 10 hits in 6.2 innings of work, concluding with a bizarre sub-60 MPH pitch, but he did everything he could to get karma running in his direction before taking the mound for a start at Wrigley.

On his way into the ballpark, Imanaga showed up with two Dunkin coffees in hand. While no one could fault a starting pitcher for needing so much caffeine on his start day, only one of the coffees was for him, the other was for Sam Bernero, a diehard fan who often takes photos of players showing up to the ballpark and shares them on social media.

Sam shared the moment on social:

And others snagging pictures of players caught the handoff from afar:

Imanaga is a known Dunkin' enthusiast, showing up in virtually all of Sam's photos of him with an iced latte (seriously, see here, here, and here). He's said that he really has only left his house to either go to the field or Dunkin'. Imanaga just moved to America this season from Japan, and what better way to integrate with the culture than some DD?

He also said he gets the same latte, it's just a matter of if it's a small or medium each time. The employees were probably stunned when he got a second drink for once.

It was a small gesture that probably made this fan's week. Awesome stuff from Imanaga, and a display of how he's so quickly endeared himself to fans in Chicago.

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Josh Wilson
JOSH WILSON

Josh Wilson is the news director of the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in 2024, he worked for FanSided in a variety of roles, most recently as senior managing editor of the brand’s flagship site. He has also served as a general manager of Sportscasting, the sports arm of a start-up sports media company, where he oversaw the site’s editorial and business strategy. Wilson has a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from SUNY Cortland and a master’s in accountancy from the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois. He loves a good nonfiction book and enjoys learning and practicing Polish. Wilson lives in Chicago but was raised in upstate New York. He spent most of his life in the Northeast and briefly lived in Poland, where he ate an unhealthy amount of pastries for six months.

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