{"id":41722,"date":"2025-03-16T12:32:58","date_gmt":"2025-03-16T12:32:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=41722"},"modified":"2025-03-16T12:32:58","modified_gmt":"2025-03-16T12:32:58","slug":"cubs-shota-imanaga-on-pitching-in-tokyo-series-feels-like-a-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=41722","title":{"rendered":"Cubs’ Shota Imanaga on pitching in Tokyo Series: ‘Feels like a dream’"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Japan<\/picture>\n
\n

Chicago Cubs\u2019 Shota Imanaga acknowledges cheers from fans during team introductions before an MLB Japan Series exhibition baseball game against the Yomiuri Giants in Tokyo, Japan, Sunday, March 16, 2025.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Hiro Komae\/AP Photos<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

TOKYO \u2013 Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga was the last player on the field Sunday before the Cubs\u2019 exhibition game against the Yomiuri Giants, as he finished up a workout in left field. But because he was still there, so were dozens of local reporters.<\/p>\n

Imanaga\u2019s presence has been felt in the days leading up to the season opener against the Dodgers, even though he has yet to play.<\/p>\n

He and Seiya Suzuki took the press conference podium Friday before the team\u2019s workout, facing a ballroom full of media members at the Tokyo Dome Hotel. He was included in the lineup announcements for both exhibition games even though he wasn\u2019t starting.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Imanaga, the Cubs\u2019 Opening Day starter, will step the rest of the way into the spotlight.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust feels like a dream,\u201d he said through interpreter Edwin Stanberry before leaving for Tokyo. \u201cThe same way when I was a kid and watching the [MLB] players play in Japan, I\u2019m hoping the kids now in Japan who can watch that, they\u2019ll feel the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Imanaga pitching in the Tokyo Series set up another full-circle kind of moment. Now on an American team playing in Japan, Imanaga two years ago was on Team Japan starting in the World Baseball Classic championship in Miami.<\/p>\n

He faced a staunch Team USA lineup, with Dodgers star Mookie Betts in the leadoff spot. Plenty of MLB teams were paying attention when Imanaga took the ball, anticipating his move to MLB. The Cubs were one of them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t say I was really focused on that,\u201d Imanaga said. \u201cIn the moment, I was just focusing on the game and seeing great players.\u201d<\/p>\n

He pitched two innings and held Team USA to one run, on a solo homer from Trea Turner.<\/p>\n

That title game infamously ended with superstar Shohei Ohtani taking the mound to close the game and striking out his Angles teammate Mike Trout to secure the 3-2 win for Team Japan.<\/p>\n

As much attention as Imanga has drawn this week, it pales in comparison to Ohtani mania.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust a wonderful person in general,\u201d Imanaga said of Ohtani. \u201cYou don\u2019t really get to meet people like that. But regardless if it was a younger teammate or an older teammate, he respected everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

The WBC led into a healthy Nippon Professional Baseball season for Imanaga, after which he was posted for MLB.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a great experience,\u201d Imanaga said of his eight seasons with NPB\u2019s Yokohama DeNA BayStars. \u201cAs the years went on, my job and my standard of what I needed to do got higher and higher. So that was great.\u201d<\/p>\n

He raised that standard again in his rookie MLB season, making the transition look easy as he finished fourth in NL Rookie of the Year voting and fifth for Cy Young.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith great players, we get greedy and we want more, more, more,\u201d manager Craig Counsell said Sunday. \u201cWhat Shota did last year was very, very hard to do. You do that again, and you put together another great season.\u201d<\/p>\n

As part of that great first season, Imanaga faced Ohtani for the first time last April, striking him out in a nine-pitch battle. They\u2019ve gone head-to-head five times in all, and Ohtani has yet to reach base against Imanaga.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re set up to face off again Tuesday, for the first time in their home country.<\/p>\n

\u201cA fantastic player on a fantastic team,\u201d Imanaga said. \u201cThey\u2019re going to be a formidable opponent, but I\u2019m going to try my best to keep it scoreless.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound for the Dodgers, it will also be the first matchup between two Japanese-born starting pitchers in MLB Opening Day history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Cubs open the 2025 season on Tuesday with Imanaga on the mound.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41723,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nCubs' Shota Imanaga on pitching in Tokyo Series: 'Feels like a dream' - 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=41722\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cubs' Shota Imanaga on pitching in Tokyo Series: 'Feels like a dream' - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Cubs open the 2025 season on Tuesday with Imanaga on the mound.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=41722\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-16T12:32:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Thiet-ke-chua-co-ten-66.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"XuanTan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"XuanTan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=41722\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=41722\",\"name\":\"Cubs' Shota Imanaga on pitching in Tokyo Series: 'Feels like a dream' - 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