TOKYO — In the largely empty Tokyo Dome, Shota Imanaga stood on the mound during the Chicago Cubs’ workout Monday afternoon to get a sense of what he would feel in a much livelier atmosphere roughly 24 hours later.
During his rookie season last year, Imanaga sometimes would get on the mound of a new ballpark the day before a start to visualize what awaited him. In this case, Imanaga — who pitched at the Tokyo Dome during his eight seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball and in the World Baseball Classic — wanted to check the mound’s clay dirt and confirm it was similar, if not the same, to what he’s now used to in the major leagues.
Imanaga acknowledged the nerves he was feeling ahead of starting opening day Tuesday against countryman Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers. There was no denying the pressure Imanaga would face in the marquee start.
Learning how to handle pressure is an integral part of being a successful professional athlete. Imanaga has talked to a mental skills coach a handful of times, noting through interpreter Edwin Stanberry that “personally, my mental skills aren’t that good.”
“There are times where you feel like you want to run away,” he said.
But Imanaga talked to teammate Justin Steele about pressure, and the fellow left-hander tried to put it in perspective.
“‘In 100 years, nobody’s going to remember this,’” Imanaga said Steele told him. “But I feel like, if I do live 100 years, there is going to be somebody out there who’s going to remember this. So I feel like I’m just going to go out there and kind of think about that.”
As a kid, Imanaga fell in love with baseball because he enjoyed practicing and learning how to do something when he struggled. If there was a baseball skill he didn’t do well right away, he focused on developing that skill over time, which brought him happiness.
It wasn’t until college, though, when more scouts started coming to his games, that he realized he had a path to playing baseball professionally.
The work Imanaga put in to establish himself first in NPB and then to make the jump to the majors — where his rookie season produced one of the best performances by a big-league starter in 2024 — set him up for Tuesday’s international stage.
“Shota has this unique way of competing and having fun and us being able to see that all at the same time, and that’s a really special trait,” manager Craig Counsell said Monday. “And it’s best for fans because you get to see his joy. Some players, they’re competing and it’s hard to see their joy. With Shota we can see his joy.
“I think (Tuesday will be) a little harder for him so we maybe won’t see it as much because it’s important. … That’s why we do this is to have moments like that.”
Imanaga’s showdown with the expected Dodgers leadoff hitter, Shohei Ohtani, in their home country in front of a sold-out ballpark of 55,000 fans to begin the season is arguably the most compelling way the Major League Baseball season could start.
Japanese reporters asked Imanaga multiple questions during Monday’s news conference about facing Ohtani. One even wondered if the lefty already knew what he would throw in the game’s first at-bat.
“If I said the first pitch, it’s like I’m going to go scissors in rock, paper, scissors, so I can’t say,” Imanaga said, prompting laughs. “But I probably can say the 25th pitch — I’d go with paper.”
Imanaga did not hesitate, however, when weighing where starting opening day at the Tokyo Dome against the Dodgers would rank among all of his career games. He put it at the top.
“When all is said and done, when I’m done with my career, when I take off my jersey, I really want to think about this moment,” he said. “I want to do well so that memory is a good one.”
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