Shota Imanaga of the Chicago Cubs started against the San Francisco Giants in the 2024 Major League Baseball at Oracle Park in San Francisco, California, on the 28th (Korea Standard Time) and allowed 93 pitches, five hits, two walks, three strikeouts and three runs (three earned) in six innings, shaking off the regret of his previous appearance. 바카라사이트
In his first appearance in the Major League this season, Imana became a hot topic in the Major League. In his first appearance in the game, he gave up two hits and no runs against the Colorado Rockies by striking out as many as nine over six innings, and posted three quality starts (three earned runs or fewer in six innings) in five appearances in April, earning four wins and no loss with an ERA of 0.98. Based on his outstanding performance, he was named the Rookie of the Year. Since then, his success has continued.
In his first appearance in May, he pitched seven scoreless innings for the first time since his debut in the Major League, and when he finished his ninth game, his record was five wins, no losses and an ERA of 0.84. However, in the game against the Milwaukee Brewers on June 30, Imana lost seven runs (seven earned runs) in four ⅓ innings for the first time, and in his first appearance in June, he suffered ups and downs in two consecutive games against the Chicago White Sox by allowing five runs (one earned run) in four ⅓ innings. Still, he ended his bad streak soon.
Imanaga was revived with two runs (two earned runs) in six ⅔ innings against the Cincinnati Reds on the 10th, and won two consecutive games against the St. Louis Cardinals on the 16th, including one run (three earned runs or less in seven innings) and a quality start+ (three earned runs or less in seven innings). However, the crisis has come once again. In the showdown against the New York Mets on the 22nd, he had 11 hits during three innings, leaving the worst pitching including 10 runs (10 earned runs) in his Japanese career. With this pitch, Imana’s ERA rose vertically from 1.89 to 2.96.
Due to the worst pitching, Imanaga was a little distant from the National League Rookie of the Year award and the Cy Young Award, but he succeeded in rebounding on the day and saved the possibility, albeit weak. Imanaga tied the top San Francisco batters to three outs in the first inning, cruised to the second inning with no crisis, and overcame the crisis of runs on the first and second bases with no outs in the top of the third inning. And after cooking the batting line leading to Matt Chapman, Jorge Soler and Luis Matos in the fourth inning, he showed a perfect pitch in the fifth inning to meet the requirements for victory.
However, Imanaga failed to reach the victory in the end on the day. After receiving a hit from leadoff hitter Otani Slater in the sixth inning, he allowed both Elliott Ramos and Wilmer Flores to fly balls to increase the out count, but this crisis finally came. He gave up an RBI double that could have been a home run to Soler at the first and second bases that were made when he was hit by Chapman. After giving up one more run on wild pitches, he also allowed Matos to make a timely hit, and allowed three runs. Still, with two outs and a runner on the first base, he handled Thairo Estrada to the center field, and did not lose the lead, and ended the game by allowing three runs in six innings.
It was a much better pitch than the previous pitch, but Imana didn’t seem to like the pitch on the day. According to multiple media outlets including Japan’s “Sports Hochi,” Imana said after the game, “I have to study more,” and when asked about the All-Star appearance, he said, “I don’t know if I’m the right All-Star in the recent few games.”
In particular, Imana must have been hit hard by the shock from the previous game. “I was very anxious (after the 10-run game). I had a lot of sleepless nights. I felt lethargy even before today’s game. Through my previous game, I felt that the Major League is not easy enough to beat the opponent team’s batters by controlling the speed of play. Taking advantage of that self-reflection, I tried to see how much I can throw without controlling the speed of play today. Why did I try to throw with 80 percent of my power when I failed to achieve anything in the Major League? I was overconfident in my own power,” Imana said.
Imanaga was able to bounce back after such a hard time because Imanaga recalled the advice that coach Craig Counsell gave in spring camp. “The coach said in camp, ‘Even if you get hit, you can stand up. It’s not a bad thing to get hit. It’s important to get back up after that,'” Imanaga said. “It’s been a pretty tough week because I got hit so many times last time, but I hope someone will see me trying to stand up,” he said. “If I get a chance to play in the All-Star game, I’ll make sure I can catch it.”
Imana, who had a shocking 11-hit, 10-run game in her previous appearance, finally managed to get rid of the psychological pressure that was so intense that she couldn’t even sleep. Now, she seems to have been pushed out of the competition for Rookie of the Year and Cy Young, but she is clearly having a great debut season.