Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell and his staff felt Shota Imanaga’s preparation in Arizona provided the perfect platform to bounce back from a rocky ending to 2025.

“I thought it happened exactly how you’d want a spring training to happen, really,” Counsell said before Sunday’s 6-3 loss to the Washington Nationals. “I think it was a very good spring for Shota. Couldn’t have picked a better way to do it, really.”

Imanaga generated 25 swing-and-misses in 4 2/3 innings against the Los Angeles Angels and allowed just one hit, one walk and struck out eight in his final tuneup game in Cactus League play. It was an encouraging spring training finale for Imanaga, who finished 2025 by allowing a home run in each of his final nine regular-season starts (15 total) and then permitted three home runs in 6 2/3 innings in the playoffs across two games.

Five batters into Sunday’s game and the home run bugaboo that plagued Imanaga last season delivered a sense of déjà vu to the 33,559 fans in attendance at Wrigley Field. Brady House and Daylen Lile collected a pair of softly hit two-out singles in the first inning to put the pressure on Imanaga. Joey Wiemer jumped on a 2-1 splitter below the zone for a three-run blast that put a quick damper on Imanaga’s strong spring finale.

Photos: Washington Nationals 6, Chicago Cubs 3

“The pitch was down, but for me, personally, it was a pitch that I missed,” Imanaga said through interpreter Edwin Stanberry after the game. “I need to be better at executing the pitch, the location in the zone.

“I would say if the movement of the shape, if that was (a) better location, you get a little more leeway, but I think on that one, the shape was a little smaller, and location wasn’t where I was trying to throw it.”

Imanaga settled in after that blast, as he struck out CJ Abrams for his third punchout of the frame. He scattered four runs in five-plus innings of work with seven strikeouts and two walks. That final line and finish will be encouraging to Counsell and the Cubs, but staking his team to a three-run deficit can be costly, as it was Sunday.

“He pitched pretty well overall,” Counsell said after the game. “Even that (first) inning, it was the check swing base hit a little bit, and then it was a pitch below the strike zone, maybe a split he just pulled just a little bit and enough for Wiemer to put it in the air the right way to get it out of the park.

“The swing-and-miss was there, which is a good sign. He’d probably like to have the walk to Abrams back to lead off the sixth. But other than that, there was a lot of good stuff. It was a pitch that hurt him today.”

It spoiled a special offensive performance from Alex Bregman, who hit his first two home runs as a Cub in the loss. Bregman clubbed a solo blast in the fourth inning, the first of back-to-back home runs with Ian Happ. His second was another solo home run in the eighth. Bregman became the first Cubs player to have a multi-home-run game for their first home run with the team since Reese McGuire blasted two solo home runs on May 25, 2025, against the Cincinnati Reds.

“They hit a couple homers with men on base, and we couldn’t put men on base ahead of our home runs,” Counsell said. “But it’s good for Alex to have a couple good swings and get things on the board and get going.”

The 32-year-old Imanaga entered the season with plenty of question marks. He was an All-Star in 2024 and finished fourth and fifth in National League Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Award voting, respectively. He had a 2.40 ERA through 13 starts last year before his season spiraled. The key for Imanaga and the Cubs this season is to find new ways to return to the success he had two seasons ago.

“If you always try to go backwards as a player, you’re going to be in trouble,” Counsell said before the game. “You’ve got to always evolve as a player, and I think that’s all Shota’s doing. Success, failure, whatever, you better evolve. It’s more like (Imanaga) 2.0 than going backwards because you’re always evolving.”

Sunday was a learning experience for Imanaga, too. He didn’t need to throw a perfect pitch against the right-handed hitting Weimer after he fell behind in the count. Imanaga will give up home runs as a fly ball pitcher, so living to fight another day is more valuable than trying to be flawless.

“I think in that situation, even if I would have walked the hitter, they wouldn’t have scored,” Imanaga said. “I think just keeping in mind if there’s an opportunity or there’s a potential to walk a hitter and get the next guy, keeping that in mind.”