{"id":170682,"date":"2026-03-30T00:01:04","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T00:01:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=170682"},"modified":"2026-03-30T00:01:04","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T00:01:04","slug":"%f0%9f%9a%a8breaking-shota-imanaga-stumbles-early-as-the-cubs-fall-in-the-opening-series-one-rough-inning-turns-into-a-painful-start-that-leaves-fans-uneasy-and-searching-for-answers-the-sea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=170682","title":{"rendered":"\ud83d\udea8BREAKING: Shota Imanaga stumbles early as the Cubs fall in the opening series\u2014one rough inning turns into a painful start that leaves fans uneasy and searching for answers. The season has just begun, but the doubts are already creeping in."},"content":{"rendered":"
Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell and his staff felt Shota Imanaga\u2019s preparation in Arizona provided the perfect platform to bounce back from a rocky ending to 2025.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought it happened exactly how you\u2019d want a spring training to happen, really,\u201d Counsell said before Sunday\u2019s 6-3 loss to the Washington Nationals. \u201cI think it was a very good spring for Shota. Couldn\u2019t have picked a better way to do it, really.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Five batters into Sunday\u2019s game and the home run bugaboo that plagued Imanaga last season delivered a sense of d\u00e9j\u00e0 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\u2019s strong spring finale.<\/p>\n
Photos: Washington Nationals 6, Chicago Cubs 3<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cThe pitch was down, but for me, personally, it was a pitch that I missed,\u201d Imanaga said through interpreter Edwin Stanberry after the game. \u201cI need to be better at executing the pitch, the location in the zone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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\u2019t where I was trying to throw it.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe pitched pretty well overall,\u201d Counsell said after the game. \u201cEven 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe swing-and-miss was there, which is a good sign. He\u2019d 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey hit a couple homers with men on base, and we couldn\u2019t put men on base ahead of our home runs,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cBut it\u2019s good for Alex to have a couple good swings and get things on the board and get going.\u201d<\/p>\nChicago Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman celebrates after hitting a home run during the fourth inning against the Washington Nationals at Wrigley Field on Sunday, March 29, 2026. (Eileen T. Meslar\/Chicago Tribune)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you always try to go backwards as a player, you\u2019re going to be in trouble,\u201d Counsell said before the game. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to always evolve as a player, and I think that\u2019s all Shota\u2019s doing. Success, failure, whatever, you better evolve. It\u2019s more like (Imanaga) 2.0 than going backwards because you\u2019re always evolving.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sunday was a learning experience for Imanaga, too. He didn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think in that situation, even if I would have walked the hitter, they wouldn\u2019t have scored,\u201d Imanaga said. \u201cI think just keeping in mind if there\u2019s an opportunity or there\u2019s a potential to walk a hitter and get the next guy, keeping that in mind.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell and his staff felt Shota Imanaga\u2019s preparation in Arizona provided the perfect platform to bounce back from a rocky ending to 2025…. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":170683,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-170682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\n
\ud83d\udea8BREAKING: Shota Imanaga stumbles early as the Cubs fall in the opening series\u2014one rough inning turns into a painful start that leaves fans uneasy and searching for answers. The season has just begun, but the doubts are already creeping in. - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=170682\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\ud83d\udea8BREAKING: Shota Imanaga stumbles early as the Cubs fall in the opening series\u2014one rough inning turns into a painful start that leaves fans uneasy and searching for answers. The season has just begun, but the doubts are already creeping in. - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell and his staff felt Shota Imanaga\u2019s preparation in Arizona provided the perfect platform to bounce back from a rocky ending to 2025....\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=170682\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-30T00:01:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/avtnew-53-3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=170682\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=170682\",\"name\":\"\ud83d\udea8BREAKING: Shota Imanaga stumbles early as the Cubs fall in the opening series\u2014one rough inning turns into a painful start that leaves fans uneasy and searching for answers. The season has just begun, but the doubts are already creeping in. - NEWS USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=170682#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=170682#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/avtnew-53-3.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-30T00:01:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-30T00:01:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/850fd1b8bcb1d322b7f0a04b3d2f18ec\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=170682#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=170682\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=170682#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/avtnew-53-3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/avtnew-53-3.jpg\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=170682#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\ud83d\udea8BREAKING: Shota Imanaga stumbles early as the Cubs fall in the opening series\u2014one rough inning turns into a painful start that leaves fans uneasy and searching for answers. The season has just begun, but the doubts are already creeping in.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"NEWS USA\",\"description\":\"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/850fd1b8bcb1d322b7f0a04b3d2f18ec\",\"name\":\"MrThanh\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8c8f2d90ff2a21a61a5e6bc0619622a5021fc65353885d9d7b3db1c8c7c1ca8d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8c8f2d90ff2a21a61a5e6bc0619622a5021fc65353885d9d7b3db1c8c7c1ca8d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"MrThanh\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?author=6\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\ud83d\udea8BREAKING: Shota Imanaga stumbles early as the Cubs fall in the opening series\u2014one rough inning turns into a painful start that leaves fans uneasy and searching for answers. The season has just begun, but the doubts are already creeping in. - NEWS USA","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=170682","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\ud83d\udea8BREAKING: Shota Imanaga stumbles early as the Cubs fall in the opening series\u2014one rough inning turns into a painful start that leaves fans uneasy and searching for answers. The season has just begun, but the doubts are already creeping in. - NEWS USA","og_description":"Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell and his staff felt Shota Imanaga\u2019s preparation in Arizona provided the perfect platform to bounce back from a rocky ending to 2025....","og_url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=170682","og_site_name":"NEWS USA","article_published_time":"2026-03-30T00:01:04+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/avtnew-53-3.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"MrThanh","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"MrThanh","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=170682","url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=170682","name":"\ud83d\udea8BREAKING: Shota Imanaga stumbles early as the Cubs fall in the opening series\u2014one rough inning turns into a painful start that leaves fans uneasy and searching for answers. The season has just begun, but the doubts are already creeping in. - NEWS USA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=170682#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=170682#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/avtnew-53-3.jpg","datePublished":"2026-03-30T00:01:04+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-30T00:01:04+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/850fd1b8bcb1d322b7f0a04b3d2f18ec"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=170682#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=170682"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=170682#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/avtnew-53-3.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/avtnew-53-3.jpg","width":1080,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=170682#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\ud83d\udea8BREAKING: Shota Imanaga stumbles early as the Cubs fall in the opening series\u2014one rough inning turns into a painful start that leaves fans uneasy and searching for answers. The season has just begun, but the doubts are already creeping in."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/","name":"NEWS USA","description":"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/850fd1b8bcb1d322b7f0a04b3d2f18ec","name":"MrThanh","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8c8f2d90ff2a21a61a5e6bc0619622a5021fc65353885d9d7b3db1c8c7c1ca8d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8c8f2d90ff2a21a61a5e6bc0619622a5021fc65353885d9d7b3db1c8c7c1ca8d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"MrThanh"},"url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?author=6"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=170682"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":170684,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170682\/revisions\/170684"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/170683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=170682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=170682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=170682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Chicago](\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/CTC-CUBS-NATIONALS-11_261115024.jpg?w=1600&resize=1600,900\")
<\/p>\n![\"Shota](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chicagotribune.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/CTC-CUBS-NATIONALS-14_261116478.jpg?fit=620%2C9999px&ssl=1\")