The Chicago Cubs have had a little bit of a roller coaster of a season in 2025, looking at times like the best team in baseball. Other times, though, it’s looked more like they could struggle to even make the postseason, let alone make a deep run when they get there.

Inconsistency has been a part of that, however so were injuries. And for all the ailments the Cubs have dealt with to their stars this season, none were more significant than the hamstring issue for ace Shota Imanaga which caused him to miss almost two months of the season.

Imanaga was having another great year, and him being out caused the rotation to be precarious at best for a whole. Since his return though, things have stabilized there and he looks as strong as ever as Chicago prepares for the final stretch and hopefully an October to remember.

The left-hander is an important part of the plan though not just for this year, but for years to come.

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This offseason, the Cubs are going to have a decision to make which would either see him walk or be in the fold for the foreseeable future, with the team option in his contract coming up. It’s not just for one year though.

If Chicago does pick up Imanaga’s option, it keeps him with the team for the next three years at a total value of just $57 million, an incredible bargain for the type of pitcher he is. In a recent article previewing free agency, baseball insider Jeff Passan of ESPN named the option as one very likely to be picked up.

“Teams love club options,” Passan wrote. “And this list shows why. More often than not, the options — especially for top players — wound up getting exercised.”

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The overall numbers are not quite as impressive for Imanaga in 2025 as they were last year, likely in no small part due to the injury, but they have still been very strong. In 2024, the 32-year-old pitched to a 2.91 ERA and an incredible 15-3 record with 174 strikeouts compared to just 28 walks in 173.1 innings.

This year, the record sits at 9-6 over 21 starts with a 3.15 ERA and very impressive 0.935 WHIP, though the command had not been quite as elite while still very solid.

Imanaga has ace potential not just for right now, but for the next half decade at least as well. He clearly loves playing in Chicago and the Cubs fans have embraced him with open arms since his arrival from Japan.

This franchise has found themselves a face of the pitching staff for a long time, and it would be a massive shock — and an even bigger mistake — if they were not to pick up the option.

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