There isn’t a single pitcher in MLB history who could do what Shu014dta Imanaga did over his first nine starts and make that last forever. Hall of Famers had occasional clunkers, every single good starter in MLB today has had games where they gave up multiple runs and didn’t last past the fifth inning.
And so it finally happened, after an 0.84 ERA over those first nine starts. Imanaga got hit hard, nine hits and seven earned runs in 4u2153 innings, and the Cubs lost to the Brewers 10-6.
Before I get to the details of this one, more on Imanaga from BCB’s JohnW53:
Maybe the extended rest negatively affected Shota Imanaga.