How Cubs' Shota Imanaga helped steady a rotation tested by injuries

Michael Dwyer/AP

BOSTON — Cubs vice president of pro scouting Andrew Bassett dropped a book with Japanese characters across the cover on president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer’s desk Thursday.

Hoyer couldn’t read it. The pages inside were in Japanese, too. But he learned it was left-hander Shota Imanaga’s book on pitching.

“It shows you that's what he's like,” Hoyer said before the Cubs’ 7-1 win against the Red Sox on Friday. “He's very thoughtful. Obviously he has the nickname of the Pitching Philosopher.”

The day after receiving Imanaga’s pitching bible — “Somebody asked me if I wanted to write a book, and so I said yes,” Imanaga explained through interpreter Edwin Stanberry — Hoyer watched Imanaga limit the Red Sox to one run through 6⅓ innings at Fenway Park.

The Cubs are only a month into the season, and already the rotation has weathered injuries to its three most established arms.

Right-hander Jameson Taillon began the season on the IL as he worked back from a back strain, and he’s made two strong starts since being activated. Rotation leader Justin Steele went down with a hamstring injury on Opening Day and got the first game action of his rehab process in extended spring training Friday. Veteran Kyle Hendricks, amid early season struggles, went on the IL this week with a low back strain.

Through all of that, plus key injuries to the offense and bullpen, the Cubs have amassed a 17-9 record this season. They've benefited from impressive performances by Javier Assad, who has been filling in as a starter, and Ben Brown and Hayden Wesneski, who have taken on multi-faceted roles.

In this four-game winning streak, Cubs pitchers have allowed an average of 1.75 runs per game.

“What makes our group so special is the cohesiveness of what we're trying to accomplish,” pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said this week. “And they know that it takes everybody, and it’s going to take a lot of people to get us through the season and do what we want to do this year.”

Case in point, manager Craig Counsell announced after the game Friday that Brown would start Saturday, after making his last two appearances out of the bullpen.

The Cubs’ schedule, paired with the injuries, add another wrinkle for the rotation.

Counsell has kept most of his starters on a six-day schedule, giving them an extra day between starts. And when a starter has had to throw on regular rest, Counsell has avoided asking that pitcher to do so twice in a row. But that likely won’t be feasible in the coming weeks as the Cubs play 16 games in as many days.

The Cubs began that stretch on Monday, and Counsell was clear about needing to push starting pitching further in games. In the four games since, each of the Cubs’ starters has at least made it two outs into the sixth inning. And the bullpen has been steady behind them.

“We pitched just wonderfully this series,” Counsell said after the Cubs swept the Astros at Wrigley Field this week.

Imanaga carried that trend through Friday. Through five starts, Imanaga has posted a 0.98 ERA. And though the Cubs had high hopes for him when they signed him this winter, he’s had a better start to his career stateside than the team probably could have reasonably expected.

He became just the fourth Cubs starter in the modern era (since 1901) with four wins in the first five starts of his career. His consistency has helped steady could have made a rocky road.

“Since it is a team, I don't feel like I'm really carrying the load,” Imanaga said. “It's a team effort. So the fact that I have awesome teammates, especially in the rotation, that helps a lot.”