The Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs will play Game 2 of the NLDS on Monday night at American Family Fields, as the Cubs will look to even the series, and the Brewers will look to take a commanding 2-0 lead heading back to Chicago.
The Brewers jumped all over Cubs' starter Matthew Boyd in Game 1, putting up nine runs in the first two innings of the game.
Now, the Cubs will send Shota Imanaga to the mound for Game 2, as the Brewers will start Aaron Ashby, who pitched 1.1 innings in relief in Game 1.
Craig Counsel Explains Imanaga Decision
Cubs' manager Craig Counsel spoke with the media on Sunday, and explained why Imanaga will get the start on Monday.
The Cubs' starter has been one of their top guys all year long, especially with all the other pitching injuries Chicago has dealt with, but recently, Imanaga has struggled.
"The thing that I love most about Shota is that he is a competitor. I think he's like a thinking man's competitor, and he also pitches with a lot of joy on the mound, while competing at a really high level," Counsel said. "He doesn't sometimes come across as this like fierce competitor, because he's really joyful on the mound, so that doesn't come across as fierce necessarily. But, I think he's a fierce competitor."
"GO CUBS, GO!" - Shota Imanaga 😂 pic.twitter.com/snCHhKB8K3
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) October 3, 2025
Anyone who's seen Imanaga's postgame celebrations with the team will agree that he finds joy in pitching, and can be very entertaining.
However, the Cubs' need Imanaga to find his groove again on the mound. In his last three starts, Imanaga has given up 13 earned runs in 14.2 innings pitched.
It hasn't been the Imanaga the Cubs were used to for a large part of the regular season, and if Chicago wants to even the series on Monday, it needs a strong outing from Imanaga.
"He's trying to figure out a way to get you out. He's trying to figure out a way to be better," Counsel said. "That's going on pitch to pitch, that's going on between starts, and he's really good at that part of it.
Caught up with Tommy Hottovy during today's workout. We talked Shota Imanaga and what the Cubs pitching approach will be for the rest of this series.
— Elise Menaker (@EliseMenaker) October 6, 2025
Full interview here: https://t.co/QaHW5kIl1G pic.twitter.com/ieRB2DYUqZ
"We've seen him pitch for two years, and we've seen him succeed for two years, and that's how he does it to me. He's a fun player to watch compete. There's no question about it."
This is Imanaga's second year in the MLB and his rookie year was phenomenal. The Cubs' starter put together a 2.91 ERA across 173.1 innings and made the All-Star game.
He's taken a step back in 2025, and has dealt with some injuries, but still has a 3.73 ERA and 0.988 WHIP, which is actually better than last year's.
The achilles heel for Imanaga this year has been the home run ball, which is why the WHIP is lower this year despite the higher ERA. If Imanaga can keep the ball inside the park on Monday, it should mean good news for the Cubs.