Chicago Cubs' pitcher Shota Imanaga took the mound on Tuesday night riding five consecutive quality starts, and he delivered again at Wrigley Field.
Imanaga has been a bonafide ace for the Cubs this season after losing star pitcher Justin Steele early in the season. The Cubs have enjoyed an incredible season from All-Star pitcher Matthew Boyd as well, but recently he's faltered a bit.
Boyd has a season ERA of 2.94, but in his last seven starts, his ERA is over five. However, during that stretch is when Imanaga has taken his pitching to another level.
Shota Imanaga Makes Cubs' History
Imanaga bursted onto the scene in 2024 with a stellar rookie season, pitching to a 2.91 ERA, with a WHIP just over one across 173.1 innings, and collected 174 strikeouts.
The Cubs' pitcher has done his best to replicate that success in 2025. Imanaga dealt with an injury earlier in the season, but has looked back to his rookie-year self lately.
The Cubs' southpaw has a 3.15 ERA on the year across 123 innings with a .935 WHIP. Tuesday night was Imanaga's 50th start as a Cub and he made history with it.
"All my teammates had my back. They covered for me. There were countless plays, amazing plays that they made."
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) September 3, 2025
Shota Imanaga says today's win was a full team effort 💪 pic.twitter.com/Uedp5Jv8jC
Imanaga became the only Cubs' starting pitcher with at least 50 starts to have a WHIP under one, since at least 1906. The southpaw's history on Tuesday night was just the cherry on top of a great performance and more importantly, a Cubs' win.
Imanaga has produced a quality start in nine of his last 11 outings. However, the Cubs are just 5-6 in those games. Chicago's offense has to figure out how to be more consistent down the stretch if it wants to make a postseason run.
The Cubs sit five games up in the NL wild card race, and five games back of the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central, with 23 games remaining.