Jake Mintz
Fox Sports MLB Analyst
Two months ago, the Chicago cub surprised the world of baseball with a managerial switch-e-ROO for age. In a one-day accurate strike, the Chairman of the baseball operation Z Hayer fired four-year-old captain David Ross and hired the prestigious Craig Counsel for a record-breaking amount in the east of the Milwauki Brothers.
The move divided the world of baseball, sent milvecky baseball fans to an understandable fury and broke the financial roof for baseball managers. Perhaps most importantly, Ross indicated a new era in cub baseball for counsel swap. Was playing around Chicago; It was once again, time to compete north.
But since then, the cubies had remained silent. Till Tuesday.
Many outlets reported that the cubs have reached an agreement with free-agent Herler Shota Imnaga. The 30-year-old left-handed batsman has been one of the most prominent pitches in Japan in the last half decade and most of the industry has been estimated as a mid-rotation option in Bigs.
The exact conditions of their contract details have finally come to the fore, With ESPN reporting Emmanga has signed a four -year contract for $ 53 million. The deal allegedly consists of team options after the second and third year, with an additional $ 27 million in a year, while Imanaga can become a free agent when the club falls.
In this winter, Imanaga was understood by his two countrymen, Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who received historical, record-breaking megadiles. But Imanaga had allegedly serious league-wide interest, which was ready to explode through four years, the most outlets in the contract range of $ 60 million were estimated to be the free agency at the beginning of the free agency.
The bid had become enough that the latest estimates had potentially earned him $ 100 million. This actual deal with the cub looks like a relative theft.
The surface level NPB number and age of Imanaga made him a particularly less desirable piece than Yamamoto, who won three consecutive Savamura Awards (Sai ​​Young Equalant of NPB) at the age of 25. But Imanaga is not a slit; He has done 2.79 ERA in 630 innings since 2019 and led all NPB pitchers including Yamamoto in the last season. And when they lack raw athleticism and fastball velocity of their world baseball classic team partner, it is due to assuming that Imanaga must have a significant and immediate effect for the cub.
His pitch data, NPB and 2023 WBC provides valuable insight from both his time, how to really go about 2024 and beyond his crafts.
Let’s start with the four-seam fastball of Imanaga, which lacks high velocity, but some of the most seductive movement characteristics we observed are. In 2023, Emmanga’s heater was sitting in the 92–93 range, but he still threw it for 54% of the time, which put it in the top 10 in MLB in terms of four-seam use. Experts project that due to an impressive amount of ride, pitch to be incredibly effective, regardless of the relative reduction of velocity.
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According to data provided by Marki’s Lance Brozdowski, Imanaga’s four-seem is about 20 inch vertical brakes of the average, which will immediately make it one of the most “heters” heaters in all of all of MLB. Only Felix Botista and Colin Poche (both relievers) had a better vertical brake in 2023 than Emnaga. Add to the short stature and low release points of that Imanaga-he is listed in 5-Foot-10, but the ball is five feet above the ground, five feet above the ground, a chance to get out of the top.
Very little left hand pitchers provide a fastball with that type of release points with that type of movement profile. The uniqueness of their fastball is an exciting possibility among more analytically interested pitching evaluators around the game.
The sweeper also grades incredibly well from a pitch-shaped perspective, so the cub is expected to increase its use this season. Like most Japanese pitches, Imanaga also throws a tearing. This is not very bad as Yamamoto, but currently there should be a strong third pitch of Emmanga, given the relative rarity of splitors in large leagues. The Southpow also has a cutter, a curve and a ciner, but it is likely that the cub takes its arsenal slightly down.
Certainly, there are areas for anxiety-Imanaga was very much home-prone in Japan, he did not throw in 148 innings in a season since 2019, he could struggle to accommodate at least MLB ball-but very little pitcher’s/BB number (174/24) could be honored.
He will slot a solid cub rotation, already fifth place the fifth -ranked Sye Young Finisher Justin Steel, which promises young Jordan Vicks and reliable veteran Rightis Kil Hendrix and Jemson Tellan. Chicago is also expected to have one of the top pitching possibilities in baseball to contribute to this season. This is not the best rotation in baseball, but if Steel repeats its luxurious ’23, Emnaga runs on the ground and Vicks takes one step forward, it is a malignant group that the cub should be placed in a solid place to contest for an NL central title.
Jake MintzLoud @Sespedesbbq Fox is a baseball writer for sports. He played college baseball, bad at first, then very well, very briefly. Jake lives in the city of New York, where he coachs the Little League and rides his bike, sometimes at the same time. Follow it on Twitter @Jake_mintz,
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