CHICAGO (AP) — The road for Shota Imanaga from Japan to the major leagues included at least one sharp observation that has served him well in his transition to life with the Chicago Cubs.
“Watching foreign players in Japan and how they try to figure out how to get support from the fans, essentially I’m just doing the opposite of that, coming over here,” Imanaga said through a translator. “It was something I thought about.”
From his entertaining pitching style to his trips to Dunkin’ Donuts — “Either I order a small iced latte or a medium,” he said — Imanaga has moved with a purpose in his acclimation to the big leagues. And he is making it look easy at the moment.
Relying on a deceptive four-seam fastball that he usually locates at the top of the strike zone, along with a splitter that plays at the bottom, Imanaga is 5-0 with a 0.84 ERA for the contending Cubs. The left-hander also has 58 strikeouts and nine walks in 53 2/3 innings — thrusting himself into the early conversation for NL Rookie of the Year and the Cy Young Award.
Four people killed in a house explosion in southwestern Missouri
Crash snarls Auckland Harbour Bridge traffic
What is happening with the NZ housing market this week?
VOX POPULI: Message for this year’s rookie workers: You are an empty glass
Mohammad Mokhber: Who is Iran’s acting president?
Department of Conservation set to lose scientific expertise in job cuts
Scientists struggle to protect infant corals from hungry fish
Yvette Fielding says her Most Haunted co
Delhi smog: Years being taken off people's lives as China shows how to beat smog
Ricky Stenhouse punching Kyle Busch could lead to suspension
WHO asks China for more information on spike in pediatric respiratory illnesses