Shota Imanaga sure looks like a Game 1 playoff starter.
But the Cubs’ postseason fate is a hot-button mystery in Wrigleyville, leaving it anyone’s guess just what kinds of October heroics the lefty ace will be given the chance to deliver.
Imanaga did his part Thursday against the Brewers, but he could only do so much as the Cubs’ bats failed to back him in a 4-1 loss in the finale of the pivotal five-game series between the NL Central rivals – a defeat that dropped the Cubs seven games back of first place.
Seven innings of two-run ball featured a stretch of 13 straight hitters retired, with the lone damage coming on an early two-run homer. It was Imanaga’s second consecutive seven-inning outing, and he’s got a 3.17 ERA since returning from a lengthy injured-list stay in late June.
While an injury-plagued starting rotation was the unit causing panic in the first half, it’s been stellar of late, starting Thursday with the best ERA in baseball since the All-Star break, a number that dropped to 3.08 after Imanaga’s effort.
Though fans were begging for a top-of-the-rotation splash at the trade deadline, it’s hard to imagine an acquisition better – and better setting up as a playoff X-factor – than Imanaga.
But he plays only one position.
And he sure doesn’t hit, which at the moment means he fits in well with his scuffling teammates, whose second-half struggles at the plate dragged on Thursday. Despite drawing eight walks, they mustered just one run, leaving the bases littered with would-be run-scorers and stranding 11 on the afternoon, going 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
Imanaga looks like the guy who could carry the Cubs in the postseason, but right now, his job is to merely keep the Cubs afloat at the end of the summer. Despite winning this week’s series, they gained just a game on the Brewers.
They still boast the NL’s top wild-card spot, but with the bats quiet for as long as they have been, who knows what awaits after the final 34 regular-season games?
“We have a lot of games left,” Imanaga said through an interpreter. “Obviously, if we won five [against the Brewers], that would have been great. But Milwaukee’s a great team.
“There’s no reason to dwell upon the loss today. We just need to keep up the momentum.”
Caissie at the bat?
With right fielder Kyle Tucker returning to the lineup Thursday, rookie Owen Caissie could be boxed out from finding regular playing time in the outfield, even after he had four hits, a home run, three RBIs and four runs scored in the first four games of the Brewers series.
But with the Cubs in need of offense, manager Craig Counsell might be forced to consider Caissie more often.
“We have a good problem in front of us now,” Counsell said Thursday, “trying to find some guys at-bats and keep them involved and keep them productive. It’s going to be a challenge, that’s what I’ll tell you.
“Owen has had a good three days here, an impactful three days, and helped us win some baseball games. That’s meaningful. It’s still going to be a challenge to find spots for him to get in there.
“But it’s my responsibility to do that. It’s a puzzle we’re going to have to put together moving forward.”