Before the Chicago Cubs traded for Edward Cabrera or signed Alex Bregman, there was fear that Jed Hoyer and Co. would ultimately prove to be handcuffed by Shota Imanaga accepting the team’s qualifying offer at the start of the offseason. Imanaga effectively became a non-factor on the Cubs’ pitching staff during the final month of the regular season and into the playoffs.
The Cubs refused to use Imanaga in the pivotal Game 5 of the NLDS against the Milwaukee Brewers, and it was a moment that suggested the two sides would head in different directions once the offseason started.
Instead, after early returns on the free-agent market suggested his market wasn’t strong, Imanaga took the $22.025 million the Cubs were offering.
Some automatically see how much Imanaga is making in 2026, tie it back to his struggles during the second half of last season, and look at the move as a complete failure. The suggestion that the Cubs grossly overvalued his market by giving him the qualifying offer.
It’s not that simple.
Just as it’s not that simple to say that because Imanaga became an afterthought by the end of the 2025 season, he’s incapable of looking like the top-of-the-rotation starting pitcher he was during his first year and a half with the Cubs.
What Imanaga’s skeptics are blissfully ignoring is the fact that he was successful during the first half of the season. Imanaga posted an ERA of 2.65 through his first 68 innings pitched last year. Opposing hitters were batting under .200 against during that stretch.
The success Imanaga had during the opening months of the 2025 season may lend credence to the idea that his late-season struggles were tied to his recovery from a hamstring strain that forced him to miss about a month.
The timing does match up with when the season turned upside down for Imanaga, and it is what Imanaga’s camp pointed to after the season. After a regular offseason program and full health, the Cubs seem to be echoing similar sentiments.
Counsell told us today in Mesa that Shota Imanaga’s throwing his fastball harder, is mostly a product of his hamstring being healthy. Counsell believes the injury created some bad mechanical issues while the pitcher compensated for the injury.
— Bruce Levine (@MLBBruceLevine) February 19, 2026
A healthy Shota Imanaga could make the difference for the Cubs
Had the Cubs gone through the offseason and Imanaga’s return been the largest expenditure they made, sure, chalk one up for those who were critical of the move.
Now, with nearly $30 million spent on reconstructing the bullpen, the trade for Cabrera, and Bregman in the fold, Imanaga’s return isn’t the burden that some Cubs fans want you to think it is.
As easy as it is to say that the pitcher who looked shell-shocked against the Brewers in the playoffs is the version of Imanaga that is here to say, one can suggest that all that was needed was for the 32-year-old to get healthy and have an offseason program that righted his mechanical issues. If that’s the case, Imanaga’s deal could be the steal of the offseason once again.
