CHICAGO (AP) — The road for Shota Imanaga from Japan to the major leagues included at least one sharp observation that has served him well in his transition to life with the Chicago Cubs.
“Watching foreign players in Japan and how they try to figure out how to get support from the fans, essentially I’m just doing the opposite of that, coming over here,” Imanaga said through a translator. “It was something I thought about.”
From his entertaining pitching style to his trips to Dunkin’ Donuts — “Either I order a small iced latte or a medium,” he said — Imanaga has moved with a purpose in his acclimation to the big leagues. And he is making it look easy at the moment.
Relying on a deceptive four-seam fastball that he usually locates at the top of the strike zone, along with a splitter that plays at the bottom, Imanaga is 5-0 with a 0.84 ERA for the contending Cubs. The left-hander also has 58 strikeouts and nine walks in 53 2/3 innings — thrusting himself into the early conversation for NL Rookie of the Year and the Cy Young Award.
Storms damage homes in Oklahoma and Kansas. But in Houston, most power is restored
Sarah Jessica Parker channels 1998 Carrie Bradshaw as she sports pink tutu
Biden highlights a coming showdown with GOP over 2017 tax cuts
From 'Psycho' to a new crop of horror movies, the genre has some mommy issues
Kosovo prepares a new draft law on renting prison cells to Denmark after the first proposal failed
Poor Kenyans feel devastated by floods and brutalized by the government's response
Celtic closes in on Scottish league title by beating Rangers 2
Sydney Sweeney put on a very leggy display in tiny metallic shorts and knee
Biden says Brown v. Board of Education ruling was about more than education
The Wire star Jamie Hector speaks out about a possible REBOOT of the hit HBO series
Adams, Reyna, Turner, Ream are US concerns ahead of Copa America
Gasser pitches 6 shutout innings in his debut as Brewers roll past slumping Cardinals 11