Shota Imanaga is getting the decision for the Chicago Cubs once they try and tie their NL Division Collection with the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday evening.
Cubs supervisor Craig Counsell introduced at his Sunday information convention that Imanaga can be the beginning pitcher for Recreation 2 of the best-of-five sequence. The Brewers haven’t but named their Recreation 2 starter.
“I believe he’s a thinking-man’s competitor, and he additionally pitches with lots of pleasure on the mound whereas competing at a extremely excessive stage,” Counsell stated. “He doesn’t typically come throughout as, like, this fierce competitor as a result of he’s actually joyful on the mound. In order that doesn’t come throughout as fierce essentially. However I believe he’s a fierce competitor.”
The Brewers took a 1-0 sequence lead on Saturday by scoring all their runs within the first two innings of a 9-3 victory
Imanaga could be very aware of the Brewers. He began towards them thrice in the course of the common season and went 1-2 with a 3.57 ERA in these video games.
The 32-year-old left-hander went 9-8 general with a 3.73 ERA in 25 regular-season begins. He additionally allowed two runs over 4 innings Wednesday within the Cubs’ 3-0 Recreation 2 loss to the San Diego Padres within the NL Wild Card Collection.
Counsell praised the method Imanaga has proven in every begin in his two seasons since becoming a member of the Cubs on a four-year, $53 million contract. Imanaga went 15-3 with a 2.91 ERA in 2024 to complete fourth within the NL Rookie of the 12 months voting.
“He’s making an attempt to determine a technique to get you out, and he’s making an attempt to determine a technique to be higher, and that’s occurring pitch to pitch,” Counsell stated. “That’s occurring between begins. He’s actually good at that a part of it. We’ve seen him pitch for 2 years, and we’ve seen him succeed for 2 years, and that’s how he does it to me. He’s a enjoyable participant to observe compete. There’s no query about it.”
Chicago reliever Ben Brown stated the Cubs stay upbeat after dropping the opening recreation of the sequence. He credited veterans Justin Turner, Dansby Swanson, Carlos Santana and Drew Pomeranz — who’ve a mixed 168 video games of postseason expertise — for ensuring everybody stayed grounded.
“It will be foolish for us to be beat up dropping one recreation,” Brown stated. “I don’t assume anybody was sporting it yesterday. I don’t assume that the vibes had been tremendous low within the clubhouse after a loss. It truly felt like we had been simply the place we would have liked to be.”
