MILWAUKEE — Left-hander Shota Imanaga stood hunched over with his hands on his knees as he waited for an athletic trainer to run out to him in the bottom of the sixth inning of the Cubs’ 4-0 loss Sunday to the Brewers at American Family Field.
The rotation was dealt another blow as Imanaga limped off the field, nursing what the team identified as a strained left hamstring. He’ll likely undergo imaging to get a clearer picture of the severity of the injury, manager Craig Counsell said.
“I’m at the point where I don’t know what exactly is going on, don’t know what the damage is,” Imanaga said after the game through Japanese interpreter Edwin Stanberry.
Imaanga had hurt his hamstring running from the mound to cover first base on a double play attempt when the Brewers’ Christian Yelich hit a ground ball to Cubs first baseman Michael Busch.
With one out and runners taking off from first and second, Busch nabbed the runner at second, but Yelich beat the throw to first.
Imanaga stepped off the bag and grabbed the back of his left leg, grimacing. He bounced a throw home to keep Brewers baserunner Jackson Chourio at third.
Once the play was over, Counsell and an athletic trainer had a short conversation with Imanaga before leading him off the field. Imanaga walked with a noticeable limp.
“It’s the first time it’s ever happened,” Imanaga said of the injury, “So I can’t really tell how bad it is.”
Imanaga also left his start last Tuesday in Pittsburgh in the sixth inning, with cramping in his quadriceps. But he bounced back and remained on a regular schedule for Sunday’s start against the Brewers.
“This week, my body physically has felt really good,” Imanaga said. “Even before the game, it felt amazing. And hydration, everything included, felt great. So there was no sign of [any issue with] the back of my leg before the game or anything like that. So, I’m in shock.”
Counsell wouldn’t definitively say that Imanaga was headed to the injured list, citing the need to gather more information before making the decision.
“He’s never had any lower body muscle strains, so he’s a little unsure of what the feeling means,” Counsell said. “But he felt something, for sure.”
The Cubs have already had to weather left-hander Justin Steele’s season-ending elbow surgery, with veteran right-hander Colin Rea performing admirably as his rotation replacement. They had expected right-hander Javier Assad to return from the IL and replenish the team’s starting depth, until he re-strained his left oblique in a rehab start almost two weeks ago.
On the active roster, Chris Flexen was starting for Triple-A Iowa before the Cubs called him up to join the bullpen. And on the 40-man, left-hander Jordan Wicks has major-league starting experience, although in his last start for Iowa he allowed seven runs in 2 ⅔ innings.
Asked if top pitching prospect Cade Horton, who has a 1.17 ERA in Triple-A this season, would be an option if Imanaga went on the IL, Counsell said the team was “not even close” to surveying backup plans.
The Cubs and Brewers were still locked in a scoreless tie when Imanaga exited with two runners on base and two outs in the sixth inning. The game quickly unraveled when right-hander Julian Merryweather replaced Imanaga on short notice. The Brewers scored four runs, two of which were charged to Imanaga, before Merryweather induced Joey Ortiz to line out to end the inning.
Saturday marked just the second time the Cubs offense has been shut out this season.