The Cubs and left-hander Shota Imanaga were on the brink of dissolution last fall before reconciling.
Both sides showed a willingness to try again.
But as anyone who has experienced a rough patch in a relationship can tell you, this might take a little time before trust is reestablished.
The last thing the Cubs or Imanaga wanted to see is what took place in the first inning Sunday, when the Nationals’ Joey Wiemer cranked a three-run home run into the left-field bleachers.
The Cubs answered with three homers, two by Alex Bregman, but were never able to overcome the early deficit. The Nationals never trailed in a 6-3 victory before 33,559 at Wrigley Field.
Imanaga gave up home runs by the barrelful last season, especially in the last two months.
In Imanaga’s last dozen starts of 2025, he was taken deep a staggering 20 times. During that stretch, he went 2-5 with a 5.17 ERA. This, after he missed a couple of months with a strained hamstring.
With Imanaga’s velocity frequently dipping below 90 mph — he averaged 90.5 mph last season — and his arm slot noticeably dropping, which also affected the effectiveness of his splitter, the Cubs declined to exercise their three-year, $57 million option on his deal.
For his part, Imanaga declined to exercise the $15 million player option he was holding. Two weeks later, however, he accepted the Cubs’ qualifying offer of $22.5 million, which the team had extended in hopes of receiving a compensatory draft choice as a parting gift if Imanaga elected to go.
Imanaga stayed put. A skeptic might say the Cubs were stuck with him, although if they had been that determined to let him go, they never would have made the qualifying offer.
Besides, Imanaga had pitched pretty well for them before he was hurt and the late-season collapse. Overall, he was 9-8 with a 3.73 ERA in 25 starts. And while his strikeout numbers were down (7.3 per nine innings after nine in 2024), there was reason for hope.
Manager Craig Counsell said he wasn’t looking for
