Shota Imanaga 2026 — Today's Stats & Game Log

Splitter-heavy game plan powers Imanaga's 1 ER, 5 K night against Cincinnati

Imanaga turned in a strong outing against the Reds, going 5.0 innings with 7 hits, 1 earned run, 5 strikeouts and just 1 walk for a 1.80 ERA on the day. Against his season ERA of 4.17, this start clearly stands out as a positive data point, and it extends a stretch of improved form dating back to his scoreless, 7-strikeout outing versus Colorado on June 11.

Pitch usage tells the story. Imanaga leaned heavily on his splitter, throwing it 42 times (41% of his total pitches) at an average of 82.8 mph, generating 7 whiffs on a 69% strike rate -- clearly his out pitch tonight and the primary reason he racked up five strikeouts in only five innings. His four-seam fastball (24 pitches, 24% usage, 91.7 mph) posted a sharp 75% strike rate, functioning as the count-setter that let him work off the splitter early, while the sweeper (22 pitches, 68% strike rate) rounded out a three-pitch mix that kept Cincinnati hitters off balance all night. On the platoon split, his season numbers show a .241 average and .726 OPS against right-handed hitters versus .205 and .722 against lefties -- essentially no platoon gap, which speaks to how cleanly the splitter-fastball combination travels against both sides of the plate.

Looking at his last ten starts, Imanaga bottomed out on May 19 against Milwaukee (8 earned runs) before turning things around; since the June 11 outing against Colorado, he has posted five straight starts allowing three earned runs or fewer. Today's 5-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio and his season WHIP of 1.12 both point to a pitcher whose command is finally translating into results now that he's found his rhythm, even if his 5-8 record hasn't fully caught up with the underlying numbers yet. Unico's take: as long as he keeps building his starts around that splitter-first game plan, the win total should start reflecting the quality of these outings soon.