The last few weeks have seen the Chicago Cubs head in the wrong direction, which is disheartening. Third place in the National League Central is far from ideal, but at least this provides the front office with a clear picture of how they might improve before the July MLB trade deadline.
They have been unable to score runs in a number of these defeats, but on Wednesday night, the pitching finally let them down. In 4 1/3 innings pitched, Shota Imanaga gave up seven earned runs on eight hits, marking his worst big league debut.
Despite the struggles from the left-hander, he’s been one of the best pitchers in baseball this season. Considering he still has a 1.86 ERA after this disaster of a start, it shows what the Japanese star has done throughout the season.
However, Imanaga understands that he hasn’t proved anything just yet. It’s going to take a lot more than some starts in the first few months of the season for him to prove he’s one of the best arms in Major League Baseball.
According to Patrick Mooney of The Athletic, Imanaga had the following to say:
“It’s hard for me to say I’ve proven something,” Imanaga said through an interpreter. “We’re a third of the way into the season. Hopefully in the next two-thirds, I can prove something.”
This is as positive of an attitude as someone could have after getting hit around. Instead of making excuses and focusing on his previous starts, he understands he needs to give more.
For the Cubs, there’s no reason to worry about the 30-year-old. He’s been too good in all of his other starts to panic over one bad night. The hope and expectation is for him to get back on track and if history repeats itself, the fan favorite will do just that in his next start.
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