TOKYO – Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga was the final participant on the sphere Sunday earlier than the Cubs’ exhibition recreation towards the Yomiuri Giants, as he completed up a exercise in left subject. However as a result of he was nonetheless there, so had been dozens of native reporters.
Imanaga’s presence has been felt within the days main as much as the season opener towards the Dodgers, despite the fact that he has but to play.
He and Seiya Suzuki took the press convention podium Friday earlier than the group’s exercise, dealing with a ballroom stuffed with media members on the Tokyo Dome Resort. He was included within the lineup bulletins for each exhibition video games despite the fact that he wasn’t beginning.
On Tuesday, Imanaga, the Cubs’ Opening Day starter, will step the remainder of the way in which into the highlight.
“Simply seems like a dream,” he mentioned via interpreter Edwin Stanberry earlier than leaving for Tokyo. “The identical means once I was a child and watching the [MLB] gamers play in Japan, I’m hoping the youngsters now in Japan who can watch that, they’ll really feel the identical means.”
Imanaga pitching within the Tokyo Collection arrange one other full-circle sort of second. Now on an American group taking part in in Japan, Imanaga two years in the past was on Crew Japan beginning within the World Baseball Traditional championship in Miami.
He confronted a staunch Crew USA lineup, with Dodgers star Mookie Betts within the leadoff spot. Loads of MLB groups had been paying consideration when Imanaga took the ball, anticipating his transfer to MLB. The Cubs had been one in every of them.
“I wouldn’t say I used to be actually centered on that,” Imanaga mentioned. “Within the second, I used to be simply specializing in the sport and seeing nice gamers.”
He pitched two innings and held Crew USA to 1 run, on a solo homer from Trea Turner.
That title recreation infamously ended with celebrity Shohei Ohtani taking the mound to shut the sport and putting out his Angles teammate Mike Trout to safe the 3-2 win for Crew Japan.
As a lot consideration as Imanga has drawn this week, it pales compared to Ohtani mania.
“Only a great individual typically,” Imanaga mentioned of Ohtani. “You don’t actually get to satisfy individuals like that. However regardless if it was a youthful teammate or an older teammate, he revered all people.”
The WBC led right into a wholesome Nippon Skilled Baseball season for Imanaga, after which he was posted for MLB.
“It was a fantastic expertise,” Imanaga mentioned of his eight seasons with NPB’s Yokohama DeNA BayStars. “Because the years went on, my job and my customary of what I wanted to do obtained greater and better. In order that was nice.”
He raised that customary once more in his rookie MLB season, making the transition look straightforward as he completed fourth in NL Rookie of the 12 months voting and fifth for Cy Younger.
“With nice gamers, we get grasping and we would like extra, extra, extra,” supervisor Craig Counsell mentioned Sunday. “What Shota did final yr was very, very exhausting to do. You do this once more, and you set collectively one other nice season.”
As a part of that nice first season, Imanaga confronted Ohtani for the primary time final April, putting him out in a nine-pitch battle. They’ve gone head-to-head 5 occasions in all, and Ohtani has but to achieve base towards Imanaga.
They’re set as much as face off once more Tuesday, for the primary time of their dwelling nation.
“A improbable participant on a improbable group,” Imanaga mentioned. “They’re going to be a formidable opponent, however I’m going to attempt my finest to maintain it scoreless.”
With Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound for the Dodgers, it is going to even be the primary matchup between two Japanese-born beginning pitchers in MLB Opening Day historical past.
