Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga was set to take the ball for a start against the Cardinals last night, but after rain caused the game to be postponed until July he’s seen his start pushed back until the club’s game against the Brewers on May 29. That scheduling change will give Imanaga a whopping ten days rest between his most recent start against the Pirates last week and his next, but Patrick Mooney of The Athletic writes that manager Craig Counsell made clear that Imanaga’s extended layoff wasn’t injury related, instead describing the decision as a “proactive” effort to manage his workload amid the 30-year-old lefty’s workload.
It’s not necessarily news that the Cubs are managing Imanaga’s workload, as he’s started just two games on regular rest so far this season. By inserting additional rest day’s into the lefty’s schedule, the club is hoping to soften Imanaga’s transition from the typical NPB schedule, where teams utilize six-man rotations with one day off a week allowing starters to pitch just once a week, to MLB’s five-man rotations with less frequent days off. It’s hard to argue with the results of Chicago’s plan, as Imanaga has been the best starting pitcher in the sport by the results this season and has authored a historic beginning to his big league career: his microscopic 0.84 ERA is both the lowest in baseball this year and the lowest of any rookie pitcher’s first nine starts in the modern era.
Imanaga’s peripheral numbers largely back up his stellar performance to this point, as well; his 27.8% is the 13th-best figure in all of baseball this year among qualified starters, while his 4.3% walk rate places him ninth. Only Chris Sale, Jack Flaherty, and Pablo Lopez have struck out more batters while walking fewer than Imanaga this year, leaving the 30-year-old’s complex $53MM guarantee with the Cubs appearing to be one of the biggest steals of the offseason a third of the way through the 2024 campaign.
More from around the NL Central…
- The Pirates offered updates on a handful of injured players today, as noted by Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Most notable among those updates was that regarding third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes. Hayes has been on the shelf for two weeks due to low back inflammation but has resumed full baseball activities, and manager Derek Shelton told reporters (including Hiles) that they will meet to discuss the next steps of his rehab process. Given that encouraging update, it’s feasible to imagine Hayes heading out for a rehab assignment in the coming days, which could allow the third baseman to return to Pittsburgh at some point in early June. Jared Triolo has handled the hot corner while Hayes has been on the shelf.
- Sticking with the Pirates, that same list of injury updates also relays positive news regarding catcher Jason Delay. The backstop underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee in mid-April and was expected to miss at least six weeks of action before undergoing baseball activities, but is already slated to start a rehab assignment just over a month after undergoing the procedure. Delay is currently on the 60-day injured list and would first be eligible to return to action in early June, although it’s feasible his rehab assignment could last longer than that given the lengthy layoff. Yasmani Grandal and Joey Bart have handled duties behind the plate in Delay’s absence, and it’s unclear if Delay would return to the big league club or be optioned to the minor leagues once healthy enough to be activated.
- The Reds scratched infielder Jeimer Candelario from their lineup against the Dodgers earlier today due to neck stiffness, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Candelario, 30, struggled in the early going of his first season with the Reds but has begun to heat up in recent weeks with a .279/.343/.492 slash line in his last sixteen games. It’s not yet clear if Candelario will be out for longer than today’s game, but even a brief absence would be a brutal blow for a Cincinnati club that is already without Matt McLain, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, and TJ Friedl due to injuries as well as Noelvi Marte due to a PED suspension. Santiago Espinal and Spencer Steer are starting tonight at third and first base, respectively, and figure to handle the infield corners for as long as Candelario is out of action.
Are the Cubs actually good? Or is it just the severely depressed talent level of the NL central?
It’s hard to tell considering the amount of injuries they’ve had so far- especially to the pitching staff. It seems a little over the top but I can see why Counsell is being careful with Shota.
They’ve only played 10 games within their division so far, so the talent level in the NL Central hasn’t played much of a factor to this point.
Every club about even. It will come down to depth of pitching. 162 games you need alot of it. Pirates look to be putting together strong pitching staff. The young starters they have look really good. Sure the young pitchers are on a pitch count . That is where depth comes in.
Can someone please change the diapers of baseball management? They can’t leave their starting babies in for more than a few “oopsies”
Don’t understand why either for some reason that’s the way it is now. Pitchers have thrown all their lives seems silly.
How many games have Cubs played in Central vs how many have they played opponents outside of Central?
Answer, they have played 10 games against the Central so far this season and 41 games against teams outside the Central.
The Cubs have a very talented team but nothing is going right for them at the moment besides Imanaga and Assad.
Their bullpen is a mess, in part because of all the injuries and their offense has been terrible going on a couple weeks now. For some unknown freaking reason Counsell is having his hitter with the best hit tool batting 5th or 6th in the line up.
No one will notice Candelario missing.
“to manage his workload…amid (his) workload.”
Huh?
Worst writer on the site.
Many times it’s who you know when you get hired.
His 27.8% is the 13th best figure in all of baseball
The Reds shocked some of us in Detroit with the candy contract, but if they gave it him to based on 23 then they are getting that production from him. Is it a overpay ? Who knows this year. I think they deadened the baseball, so that is going to effect how the hitters can make money from that going forward. Baseball never admits they have done something like that, so we’ll see.
I was almost positive Scottie Harris would take a chance on Joey Bart when he was dealt by the Giants. Harris was in San Fran when Bart was a prospect. I guess he didn’t know what he had.
Tigers currently have two quality defensive Cs on the roster so Bart would have been excess as having 3 no hit catchers doesn’t work. Rogers wasn’t going to be sent down, Kennedy is out of options and so was Bart.