Hitters see the baseball. Then they don’t.

Chicago Cubs right-handed starter, Shota Imanaga has so much movement on the baseball, it literally baffles hitters.

Imanaga, 31, can make a baseball dance.

Imanaga’s split-finger pitch, which he uses on anywhere from 25% to 35% of his offerings, is so deceptive hitters either swing and miss, or pound the pitch into the ground.

Like many Japanese starting pitchers, Imanaga has a masterful repertoire of multiple pitches.

According to brooksbaseball.net, Imanaga throws a four-seam fastball, a sinking fastball, a curve, a slider, and a split-finger. In the past, he also threw a cutter, but he has not used that pitch yet this season.

Imanaga is 5-10, 175 pounds. He isn’t tall and slender, pitching downhill from a tall frame. Instead, he is a disciplined master of his crafts.

Imanaga’s crafts include changing speeds on pitches, changing the eye level of the hitter from pitch to pitch, and keeping the hitter off balance.

Keeping the hitter off balance is the real cornerstone of Imanaga’s mechanical mastery of the art of pitching.

Imanaga has outstanding command and control.

If a right-handed hitter is looking for the pitch inside to drive to his pull side, he may get a pitch that starts outside at his waist and falls below his knees. The hitter swings over the ball. The hitter saw the baseball. Then it was gone.

Imanaga has a remarkable quality of being able to repeat his delivery. Regardless of the count or situation, Imanaga sticks to his game plan, and goes into the same motion over and over again.

It is rare that Imanaga pitches with men on base.

A Bit About Shota Imanaga:

Imanaga signed with the Chicago Cubs following parts of eight seasons pitching in the Japan Eastern League.

An All Star in his first season with the Cubs stateside, Imanaga finished the season with an outstanding 15-3 record. He threw to a 2.91 ERA, and 1.02 WHIP in 29 starts, covering 173.1 innings pitched.

Displaying excellent command and control, Imanaga walked an average of 1.5 hitters per nine innings, while striking out an average of 9 hitters per nine innings.

Imanaga yielded only 149 hits in his 175.1 innings pitched.

Cubs Contracts:

fangraphs.com, explained that Imanaga signed “4-year, $53.25 million (2024-2025), 2026-27 player options, 2028 club option; base deal maxes out at $80 million (team decides to exercise club option for more $ before player option choice.”

In essence, if all the options in the contract are activated, Imanaga will be with the Cubs until at least the end of 2028.

The Cubs have three other players under contracts at least four years in length.

The Cubs have shortstop Dansby Swanson under contract until the end of the 2029 season. He signed a 7-year, $177 million contract in 2023.

The Cubs signed outfielder Seiya Suzuki to a 5-year, $85 million contract in 2022.

Pitcher Jameson Taillon signed a 4-year, $68 million contract in 2023.

All Star Kyle Tucker was traded by the Astros as he entered his last contract year prior to being eligible for free agency.

Tucker is off to a fantastic start, and the Cubs will have to decide what they wish to do about offering Tucker an extension.

Tucker will have to decide if he wishes to test the free agent market.

Conclusions:

The Chicago Cubs have been the beneficiary of tremendous pitching by Shota Imanaga.

Imanaga threw only five innings in his latest Cubs start, an April 15 no-decision in San Diego. He threw an unusually high 93 pitches.

He has probably surpassed the Cubs expectations of his potential success.

The team and Cubs fans can sit back and enjoy watching Imanaga dazzle hitters.

With Imanaga, now hitters see the ball. Then they don’t.