MIAMI — Sometimes a fresh haircut represents a needed reset for a player stuck in a tough stretch.
Shota Imanaga, sporting a new, shorter do after cutting his luscious locks following a rough start Sunday, pitched like the version the Chicago Cubs are hoping to see finish strong in the final four weeks of the season. Imanaga limited the Miami Marlins to one run and three hits in six-plus innings during Friday’s 6-1 win at LoanDepot Park.
Importantly, Imanaga did not walk a batter or allow a home run for just the second time in 28 starts this year.
“I was out there trying my best because if I cut my hair, I have to pitch well,” Imanaga said through interpreter Edwin Stanberry.
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With the win, the Cubs (80-62) leapfrogged the Philadelphia Phillies by a half-game for the top National League wild-card spot. The Phillies (79-62) lost to the Atlanta Braves 5-2. The Cubs hold the tiebreaker by virtue of winning the season series 6-1.
Imanaga’s splitter was essentially unhittable. He generated a career-high 17 whiffs with the pitch and represented the most swing-and-misses on a splitter by a big-league pitcher since the San Francisco Giants’ Keaton Winn had 18 on Sept. 10, 2023. Attacking with his splitter was clearly part of the game plan against the Marlins, and his effectiveness with it had catcher Carson Kelly and Imanaga going to it often.
“He’s a pro, he knows what he needs to do, and it’s a long year, right?” Kelly said. “You’re going to have these ups and downs, and I think for him the last couple haven’t been great. But before that, he was doing really, really good, so just making some adjustments, and it was a good one for him to go out there and do his thing.”
Imanaga’s four-seam fastball notably held its velocity into the seventh inning as he reached 94 pitches. His fastball sat between 91.4 mph and 91.8 mph and topped out at 92.6.
“I thought in his last start he had to work really hard to put up a zero in the first inning, and he put some effort into some fastballs in the first inning, and he got to maybe 94 on some fastballs, but then maybe it costs you later in the game, right?” manager Craig Counsell said. “And he maintained it tonight really well. I think that’s how he’s best is when he’s pitching like that in a consistent manner.”
Pete Crow-Armstrong’s stellar leaping catch at the center-field wall robbed the Marlins’ Heriberto Hernández of at least extra bases in the bottom of the sixth inning with the Cubs holding a four-run lead. Crow-Armstrong covered 92 feet tracking the ball and timed his jump perfectly for the highlight-reel catch.
“Just kind of hit it over my right shoulder and thankfully turned the right way and put my head down and just tried to make up some ground and found the wall,” said Crow-Armstrong, who doubled, walked and scored two runs in the win. “I don’t rank my plays — I’m just happy I got a chance. I feel like I haven’t had that many opps in the recent past here. So, just getting a chance to make a fun play was great.”
The Cubs needed that performance from Imanaga to set the tone to start the series. Right-hander Aaron Civale’s three scoreless innings to earn his second save helped give the rest of the bullpen a night off.
Imanaga had to have an outing like Friday’s as the lefty has searched for positivity after posting a 4.97 ERA over the last two months.
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“Building trust is kind of like Dominoes or Jenga where it takes time and it’s hard to build up, but in an instant it can disappear,” Imanaga said. “So I want to slowly build that trust back up and be that pitcher that everybody can trust.”