Left-hander Shota Imanaga emerged from the Cubs’ bullpen and spread a towel on the outfield grass Sunday morning.
Sunbathing? Not quite. The Cubs’ game against the Blue Jays had just been postponed, which meant Imanaga had been scratched from his scheduled start. It hadn’t yet begun to rain, so Imanaga was availing himself of a chance to do some ‘‘Superman’’ stretches, then some long-tossing and running in the outfield before heading inside.
Manager Craig Counsell said Imanaga will open the Cubs’ four-game series against the Mets on Monday in New York. After that, the Cubs will go with right-handers Edward Cabrera and Javier Assad on Tuesday and Wednesday but are undecided Thursday. Left-hander Matthew Boyd struck out seven in four scoreless innings in a rehab assignment Saturday in Class A South Bend, so his return is imminent.
The rainout wiped out Imanaga’s chance to renew a long-standing rivalry against Blue Jays slugger Kazuma Okamoto, whose three-run home run against Jacob Webb in the eighth inning brought the Blue Jays all the way back from a five-run deficit in their 8-6 victory Saturday against the Cubs.
Okamoto’s homer was his team-leading 16th, double that of runner-up George Springer. Okamoto also has struck out 99 times, the sixth-most in baseball, two fewer times than the Cubs’ Ian Happ.
The Blue Jays’ big ticket, Vladi Guerrero, who led the majors with 48 homers in 2021 and never has hit fewer than 23 in a full season, is locked in an Alex Bregman-like funk, with just four homers to date.
In Japan’s Central League, where Imanaga pitched for the Yokohama Bay Stars, he faced Okamoto, the star slugger of the Yomiuri Giants, frequently. In 56 plate appearances (48 at-bats) against Imanaga, Okamoto hit three homers and batted .271 (13-for-48) against him while striking out 14 times.
On the podcast ‘‘Foul Territory’’ in spring training, Imanaga had joked about being taken deep by Okamoto and another recent arrival, White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami.
‘‘I joked that some of the home runs they hit off me should be part of their contract [negotiations],’’ Imanaga said.
When he faces the Mets on Monday, Imanaga will be trying to end a seven-start winless streak (four losses, three no-decisions). He hasn’t been credited with a victory in six weeks, his last coming May 7 against the Reds.
Makeup date Aug. 6
The postponed game has been rescheduled for 1:20 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 6, a mutual day off for both teams. The Cubs will be coming off six games at Wrigley Field against the Yankees and Dodgers. They’ll play the Blue Jays, then open a series against the Royals the next night in Kansas City.
The Blue Jays will lose a day off after playing in Houston. They’ll come to Chicago, then resume their trip the next night in Philadelphia.
Fans holding tickets for the game Sunday will have them automatically updated in the MLB Ballpark app, the Cubs said. No ticket exchange is necessary.
PCA=OMG
Some truly astonishing numbers on Pete Crow-Armstrong from the Cubs’ crack media-relations department:
• PCA’s home run Saturday was his fourth in the last five games, extending his career-high on-base streak to 23 games (dating to May 26) and his hitting streak to 10 games. During his on-base streak, he is batting .412 (40-for-97) with seven doubles, two triples, 10 homers, 17 RBI and a 1.303 OPS.
• His .835 slugging percentage, 1.303 OPS and 40 hits during his on-base streak lead the majors in that stretch, and his .412 batting average is second.
• His nine homers in June lead the majors, and his 4.6 wins above replacement, according to FanGraphs, leads major-league position players and trails only Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani (5.3).