Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer found a book on pitching that lefty Shota Imanaga published last year in Japan.
In his first month in the Majors, Imanaga has been one of the top arms in the season’s early going.
In the Cubs' 7-1 victory at Fenway Park, the lefty kept it going against the Red Sox.
Over a career-high 6 1/3 innings, Imanaga limited Boston to one run.
"One of Shota’s best traits is that he’s very curious. He’s very open,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said before the game. “He takes in information very well. I think he watches very well. And that leads to someone who’s very good at making adjustments.”
With the win, Imanaga improved to 4-0 through his first five starts for Chicago and headed off the hill with a 0.98 ERA. The lefty struck out seven and issued one walk.
As a result, Imanaga became the first Cubs starter to go at least 4-0 through the first five games of his career, and only the 37th pitcher to do that in AL/NL history. He is the first starter since 1945 (Boston’s Dave Ferriss) to go at least 4-0 with an ERA below 1.00 in his first five career games.