Cubs take cautious approach with Shota Imanaga injury return
Chicago Cubs fans have been anxiously waiting for ace Shota Imanaga to return from the Injured List, but that wait will continue a little longer than expected. The Cubs are making it clear they’re taking a cautious approach with Imanaga’s return from injury, as manager Craig Counsell said on Tuesday that the left-hander s still a few more rehab starts away from a return to the Majors.
Imanaga has been sidelined since May 4, when he exited his start against the Milwaukee Brewers with two outs in the sixth inning. The Japanese star was diagnosed with a left hamstring strain and has been slowly ramping back up over the past few weeks. Imanaga threw a bullpen session in Arizona this past weekend and followed that up with a two-inning appearance in the Arizona Complex League on Monday.
Tommy Hottovy, who is now in his seventh season as Cubs pitching coach, said on Tuesday that Imanaga would hopefully make another rehab start later this week after tossing 40 pitches in his first live game since suffering the injury. Fans might have hoped that Imanaga could return as early as next week after a second rehab outing; that seemed like a safe assumption, seeing that Justin Steele only needed one three-inning start at Triple-A in 2024 to return from a strained hamstring of his own.
However, this time around the Cubs are taking it slower with Imanaga. Counsell explained as much during an interview on 670 The Score’s Spiegel & Holmes Show.
“Shota has got a couple more starts before you’re going to see him in Chicago,” Counsell said. “That’s because as a starter, you’ve got to go through this process where you’re lengthened out and your arm recovers.”
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Cubs are wise to play the long game with Shota Imanaga injury
Imanaga made 29 starts for the Cubs during his rookie season in 2024. He logged 173.1 innings, topping his career high of 170 innings in 2019 with the Yokohama Bay Stars in Japan. The Cubs made sure to handle Imanaga carefully as a rookie last season to help him adjust to the rigors of an MLB schedule, which is slightly more taxing to a starting pitcher compared to the NPB, where starters usually pitch every sixth day rather than every fifth. Out of Imanaga’s 29 starts last season, 23 came with at least five days of rest.
