'Constantly learning' Imanaga off to impressive start with the Chicago Cubs
CHICAGO (AP) — The road for Shota Imanaga from Japan to the major leagues included at least one sharp observation that has served him well in his transition to life with the Chicago Cubs.
“Watching foreign players in Japan and how they try to figure out how to get support from the fans, essentially I’m just doing the opposite of that, coming over here,” Imanaga said through a translator. “It was something I thought about.”
From his entertaining pitching style to his trips to Dunkin’ Donuts — “Either I order a small iced latte or a medium,” he said — Imanaga has moved with a purpose in his acclimation to the big leagues. And he is making it look easy at the moment.
Relying on a deceptive four-seam fastball that he usually locates at the top of the strike zone, along with a splitter that plays at the bottom, Imanaga is 5-0 with a 0.84 ERA for the contending Cubs. The left-hander also has 58 strikeouts and nine walks in 53 2/3 innings — thrusting himself into the early conversation for NL Rookie of the Year and the Cy Young Award.
Related articles
The government wants to buy their flood
HOUSTON (AP) — After the floodwaters earlier this month just about swallowed two of the six homes th2024-05-21Chinese language proficiency contests held in Namibia
A Namibian student performs during the "Chinese Bridge" Chinese proficiency competitions i2024-05-21Israel intensifies offensive in Gaza, strikes 120 sites: army
People prepare to leave a shelter in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on May 6, 2024. [Photo/X2024-05-21- OpenAI announced on Monday a new generative AI model called GPT-4o with the ability to handle text,2024-05-21
Celebrity birthdays for the week of May 26
Celebrity birthdays for the week of May 26-June 1:May 26: Sportscaster Brent Musburger is 85. Drumme2024-05-21Taiwan's WHA participation must fall under one
China's decision of disapproving Taiwan region's participation in the World Health Assembly2024-05-21
atest comment