Shōta Imanaga Confirmed as Game 2 Starter

As expected, Craig Counsell announced Sunday afternoon that Shōta Imanaga will be the Cubs’ starter for Game 2 of their NLDS series against the Brewers. Imanaga has not technically started in the postseason, but he did pitch four innings against the Padres as the bulk man after Andrew Kittredge opened the game. Even that short stint for the lefty felt a little too long, as he gave up a two-run homer to Manny Machado in his final inning of work.

It was far from an efficient outing for Imanaga, who needed 67 pitches to complete those four frames. He only allowed three hits, but he walked two batters and the Padres generated a lot of hard contact against him. I was skeptical of him getting the ball in that game and am perhaps even more concerned about him going on Monday, but, like Matthew Boyd in Game 1, Cousell has chosen to ride his horses until they fall over.

At the risk of being redundant after saying as much in the Boyd piece, I’d rather see Colin Rea on Monday and Imanaga in a potential do-or-die Game 3 in Chicago on six days’ rest. As it is, Imanaga will be on regular rest to face one of MLB’s best-hitting teams against lefty pitching. The Brewers’ aggregate 107 wRC+ this season tied them with the Astros for seventh in baseball, though they were 24th with only 40 home runs.

That was surely a big factor in Counsell’s decision, as the home run ball has been Imanaga’s most glaring weakness this season. He has served up 20 dingers in the second half, leading to a 4.70 ERA that is worse than every Cubs starter other than Ben Brown since the break. Even so, the matchup seems more favorable than in the opening game if Imanga can avoid walks. Wrigley’s park factors and a little extra rest would probably make Wednesday an even more advantageous matchup, but that ship has sailed.

As always, we’ll wait until after the game to determine how smart a decision this was.