Shota Imanaga — 2026 Season

2026 Season Stats

Pitching stats and MLB-wide rank · 2026 Season

Stat	2026	MLB Rank
ERA	3.91	—
WHIP	1.12	—
W	9	—
L	10	—
K	152	MLB #29
IP	156.1	—
SV	0	—
GS	28	—

2026 Season Highlights

As of September 1, Shota Imanaga remains a fixture in the Cubs' starting rotation. He has had a bumpier season than last year, with control and run prevention proving tougher at times, though his strikeout ability continues to stand out. Since joining the Cubs in 2024, he has held down a rotation spot throughout. He brings the pedigree of an NPB Best Nine honoree and a member of Japan's 2023 World Baseball Classic championship team.

Shota Imanaga joined the Cubs in 2024 and quickly established himself as a dependable starter with his sharp slider and crafty pitch sequencing. His 2025 season was interrupted by injury, limiting him to 25 starts (9-8, 3.73 ERA). After becoming a free agent, he accepted the Cubs' qualifying offer (~$22 million) to return for 2026, aiming to bounce back to full strength. A 2023 WBC champion with Japan.

1He has continued to take his regular turn in the rotation, but walks and runs allowed have piled up more often, making for a tougher season overall.
2An NPB Best Nine honoree and member of Japan's 2023 World Baseball Classic championship squad, he has held a steady rotation spot since joining the Cubs in 2024.
3With his strikeout ability still a clear strength, the key storyline down the stretch is whether he can tighten up his control and regain his earlier consistency.

DETAIL · ANALYSIS

Detailed Analysis

In-depth metrics aggregated from every at-bat and pitch.

Data as of: 2026-09-06

Expand detailed analysis ▾

Recent Form (Last 10 Starts)

Older games on the left, most recent on the right. Color shows how they played.

Best: 6IP+ / ≤1ER · Good: 5IP+ / ≤2ER · OK: 4IP+ / ≤3ER · 4ER · ≥5ER (blowup)

Pitch Arsenal

Current season pitch data by type. Velocity, spin rate, movement, whiff rate, and CSW% at a glance.

Pitch	Usage	Velo (mph)	Spin	H-Mvmt	V-Mvmt	Whiff%	CSW%
Four-Seam Fastball	41.0%	91.6	2,497	+6.9"	+10.1"	17.0%	24.7%
Splitter	33.3%	82.8	1,125	+7.0"	+3.5"	40.4%	31.2%
Sweeper	15.4%	81.1	2,543	-7.3"	-0.3"	26.9%	27.0%
Sinker	6.1%	90.1	2,460	+9.9"	+5.7"	17.3%	29.9%
Curveball	2.6%	74.5	2,517	-4.7"	-7.8"	6.7%	40.0%
Slider	1.6%	86.3	2,472	-1.2"	+4.5"	32.0%	29.3%

H-Mvmt/V-Mvmt (inch): movement vs. a spinless ball. + = toward 3B / up, − = toward 1B / down. Whiff% = whiffs / swings, CSW% = (called strikes + whiffs) / pitches.

Handedness & Home/Away Splits

Situational splits for the current season. See strengths and weaknesses by scenario.

vs Handedness

Split	OAVG	OOPS	HR	K	BB
vs RHB	.237	.707	22	106	23
vs LHB	.231	.768	11	46	12

Home / Away

Split	OAVG	OOPS	HR	K	BB
Home	.243	.738	20	90	22
Away	.225	.704	13	62	13

Year-over-Year Performance Trend

Career-long performance trends for every key stat. How does this year compare to history?

Season	G	IP	ERA	WHIP	K/9	BB/9	K
2024	29	173.1	2.91	1.02	9.03	1.45	174
2025	25	144.2	3.73	0.99	7.28	1.62	117
2026Now	28	156.1	3.91	1.12	8.75	2.01	152

Full Game Log (Pitching)

All 28 games of the 2026 season. Showing latest 10; click to expand.

Date	Opp	IP	H	ER	BB	K	ER/9
09/05	@ MIA	6.0	3	1	0	4	1.50
08/31	vs CIN	5.0	8	6	1	4	10.80
08/24	@ SEA	2.0	5	1	2	4	4.50
08/18	vs CWS	6.0	2	3	3	10	4.50
08/12	@ WSH	4.2	6	4	0	5	7.71
08/06	vs LAD	5.0	8	1	0	6	1.80
08/01	vs NYY	6.2	4	2	0	6	2.70
07/26	@ PIT	6.0	4	0	1	4	0.00
07/20	vs MIN	7.0	6	0	1	4	0.00
07/11	@ CIN	5.0	7	1	1	5	1.80

SHOW REMAINING 18 GAMES ▾

Date	Opp	IP	H	ER	BB	K	ER/9
07/05	vs STL	4.2	4	2	3	8	3.86
06/30	vs SD	6.1	9	2	0	4	2.84
06/25	@ NYM	5.1	4	4	1	4	6.75
06/16	vs COL	5.2	5	1	1	3	1.59
06/11	@ COL	5.0	2	0	2	7	0.00
06/05	vs OAK	6.0	6	6	1	5	9.00
05/30	@ STL	5.1	5	5	1	2	8.44
05/25	vs HOU	6.0	7	7	1	6	10.50
05/19	vs MIL	4.1	9	8	3	2	16.62
05/14	@ ATL	7.0	5	2	0	6	2.57
05/08	vs CIN	6.0	6	1	3	10	1.50
05/03	vs ARI	7.0	4	0	1	5	0.00
04/27	@ LAD	5.1	6	4	3	6	6.75
04/22	vs PHI	7.0	3	1	1	1	1.29
04/16	@ PHI	6.0	3	1	1	11	1.50
04/11	vs PIT	6.0	0	0	1	9	0.00
04/06	@ CLE	5.0	3	1	1	4	1.80
03/30	vs WSH	5.0	6	4	2	7	7.20

Year-over-Year (2026 vs 2025)

Green = improvement, red = decline. "—" means no data in the same month last year.

Pitching

	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep
ERA	+6.38	-1.39	+2.62	+4.13	-2.79	+3.31	-5.01
K	+1	+7	+27	+20	+1	-3	-18
WHIP	+0.78	-0.50	+0.38	+0.69	+0.01	+0.86	-0.73

AI · SEASON ANALYSIS

Shota Imanaga 2026 Season AI Analysis

Comprehensive 2026 season analysis generated by Claude AI from stats data (as of Sep 7, 2026).

Overview

Imanaga's 2026 ERA of 3.91 trails the MLB average of 3.60 and sits below the P50 mark of 3.71, placing him outside the top half of qualified starters on run prevention alone. His WHIP of 1.12, however, beats both the league average (1.19) and P50 (1.18), edging toward P75-caliber territory (1.09). His walk rate of 2.01 BB/9 matches the P90 threshold exactly, and his strikeout rate of 8.75 K/9 is essentially at league average (8.73). The composite picture is a pitcher whose command and baserunner prevention rank well above average, but whose ERA has not yet caught up to that underlying performance.

Strengths

The standout development is walk rate: 2.01 BB/9 in 2026 is a step up from an already strong 2024 and 2025, and it now sits at the P90 level leaguewide, meaning roughly 9 in 10 qualified starters walk batters more often than he does. WHIP (1.12) is also his best full-season mark, reflecting consistently tight control of baserunners. Strikeout rate (8.75 K/9) has rebounded from the 7.28 mark in 2025 and is back in line with his 2024 form, showing swing-and-miss stuff has not eroded. Together, these numbers point to a pitcher who continues to miss bats while issuing fewer free passes than almost anyone in the league.

Areas to Improve

The clearest gap versus league standards is ERA. At 3.91, he trails not just the P75 (3.04) and P90 (2.55) tiers but also the flat MLB average (3.60), a reversal from 2024 when his 2.91 ERA would have graded as elite. Compared to his own track record, ERA has risen for a second straight year (2.91 to 3.73 to 3.91), even as his walk and strikeout rates have held steady or improved. That divergence suggests the shortfall is concentrated in results on balls in play or sequencing rather than pure stuff or command, an area worth monitoring separately from the underlying peripherals.

Looking Ahead

With BB/9 and K/9 both trending favorably and WHIP at a career-best level, the underlying skill set argues for ERA to regress toward his peripherals rather than continue climbing. Across 28 starts and 156.1 innings, the sample is large enough that further ERA improvement would likely need to come from better contact management rather than a change in approach, since command and strikeout ability are already performing at or above league standard. Barring a spike in hard contact allowed, the expectation for the rest of the season is a modest ERA correction downward, with WHIP and BB/9 likely to remain his strongest marks relative to the league.

AI-generated content (Claude) · Based on stats as of Sep 7, 2026

Detailed Analysis

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Season Analysis

Season Progress

ERA

↓ Lower is better

WHIP

↓ Lower is better

Strikeouts

Wins

Monthly Stats

ERA

vs MLB Monthly Avg↓ Lower is better

WHIP

vs MLB Monthly Avg↓ Lower is better

Strikeouts

Wins

Season Analysis

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Splits vs LHP / RHP

Season stats vs right-handed and left-handed batters

vs RHP/RHB

.237OPS .707 / HR 22

vs LHP/LHB

.231OPS .768 / HR 11

Metrics Deep Dive

MLB-wide percentile rank, defensive and pitching metric summaries, pitch-type stats, and batted-ball distribution.

Pitching — MLB-wide Standing

WHIP ranks in the top 32% of MLB. The rest sit closer to league average.

ERA3.91

WHIP1.12

strikeouts152

K/98.75

Bars show percentile rank among MLB-wide qualified players.

PITCHER · FIP

What is Shota Imanaga's FIP? 4.69 in 2026

FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) measures a pitcher's true skill using only home runs, walks, hit-by-pitches and strikeouts — outcomes the pitcher controls. By stripping out defense and luck, it tracks real ability more closely than ERA.

Shota Imanaga's 2026 FIP is 4.69, rated as "below average". That's 0.69 above the MLB average of about 4.00, leaving room to improve.

Compare with other Japanese pitchers in the FIP ranking

Pitch Type K% & BA Against

K% / BA-against / Whiff% by pitch type this season. K% is based on at-bats where each type was the strikeout pitch.

Pitch	Usage	K%	BAA	Whiff%
Four-Seam Fastball	41.0%	20.6%	.317	17.0%
Splitter	33.3%	31.5%	.288	40.4%
Sweeper	15.4%	22.5%	.370	26.9%
Sinker	6.1%	10.3%	.341	17.3%
Curveball	2.6%	0.0%	.200	6.7%
Slider	1.6%	16.7%	—	32.0%

K%: rate of strikeouts among plate appearances where this pitch type was the final pitch. Whiff%: whiffs per swing. Types with fewer than 10 pitches excluded.

Splits by Batter Handedness

BA / OPS against and WHIP vs right-handed and left-handed batters this season. Spot weaknesses by batter type.

Split	BAA	OPS	WHIP	K	IP
vs RHB	.237	.707	1.12	106	113.0
vs LHB	.231	.768	1.17	46	42.0

Game Log

2026 Season Appearance Log

28 starts · 152 total strikeouts

Season Best K

11K

Thu, Apr 16 @ PHI

Season Debut

Mon, Mar 30 vs WSH

5.0IP · 7K

Date	Opp	IP	K	HR	BB	Dec
9/5	@MIA	6.0	4	-	0	W
8/31	vsCIN	5.0	4	3	1	L
8/24	@SEA	2.0	4	1	2	-
8/18	vsCWS	6.0	10	1	3	-
8/12	@WSH	4.2	5	3	0	-
8/6	vsLAD	5.0	6	1	0	W
8/1	vsNYY	6.2	6	2	0	L
7/26	@PIT	6.0	4	-	1	W
7/20	vsMIN	7.0	4	-	1	W
7/11	@CIN	5.0	5	1	1	L
7/5	vsSTL	4.2	8	1	3	L
6/30	vsSD	6.1	4	-	0	-
6/25	@NYM	5.1	4	3	1	W
6/16	vsCOL	5.2	3	-	1	-
6/11	@COL	5.0	7	-	2	-
6/5	vsOAK	6.0	5	4	1	-
5/30	@STL	5.1	2	3	1	L
5/25	vsHOU	6.0	6	3	1	L
5/19	vsMIL	4.1	2	2	3	L
5/14	@ATL	7.0	6	1	0	L
5/8	vsCIN	6.0	10	1	3	W
5/3	vsARI	7.0	5	-	1	W
4/27	@LAD	5.1	6	-	3	L
4/22	vsPHI	7.0	1	1	1	W
4/16	@PHI	6.0	11	1	1	W
4/11	vsPIT	6.0	9	-	1	-
4/6	@CLE	5.0	4	-	1	-
3/30	vsWSH	5.0	7	1	2	L