Biography

BIOGRAPHY

Shota Imanaga was born on September 1, 1993, in Fukuoka, Japan. He is a pitcher in the MLB.

The Yokohama DeNA BayStars selected Imanaga in the first round of the 2015 NPB draft out of Komazawa University.

Imanaga signed with the Canberra Cavalry of the Australian Baseball League to play weeks 2-7 of the 2018–19 Australian Baseball League season In his six starts for the Cavalry, he posted a 4–0 win–loss record with a league best 0.51 earned run average (ERA) over 35 innings pitched with 57 strikeouts to one walk. By meeting the statistical recognition minimum (0.8IP per team game), Imanaga broke the league records for WHIP (0.429), H/9 (3.6), BB/9 (0.3) and second best ERA behind Ryan Searle. Following his ABL stint, Imanaga posted a 13–7 2.91 ERA, 2019 Nippon Professional Baseball season, finishing second in wins and strikeouts only behind Shun Yamaguchi in the Central League.

On June 7, 2022, Imanaga pitched a no-hitter against the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters.

On September 6, 2023, Yokohama announced that they would post Imanaga to Major League Baseball (MLB) following the 2023 season.

Imanaga was signed prior to the 2024 season by the Chicago Cubs following his successful seasons in Japan.