Shota Imanaga gets the Game 2 start as the Cubs look to even the NLDS against Brewers

Meghan Montemurro, Chicago Tribune on Oct 5, 2025

Published in Baseball

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

MILWAUKEE — Left-hander Shota Imanaga has an opportunity to help the Chicago Cubs even the National League Division Series.

Imanaga will start Game 2 Monday against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field, manager Craig Counsell announced Sunday before the team’s off-day workout at the ballpark. Imanaga allowed two runs and three hits over four innings in Game 2 of the wild-card series versus the San Diego Padres, entering in the second inning after reliever Andrew Kittredge was used as an opener.

As for whether that first postseason outing could help Imanaga on Monday, Counsell wasn’t sure what kind of impact that could make.

“Postseason starts are hard,” Counsell said Sunday. “You’ve got a good team on the other side. You’ve got to make a lot of pitches. If anything, maybe you understand how in every pitch, kind of the intensity, you feel it. You just go hard for as long as you can and when it’s over, it’s over. In that sense, it’s maybe a little different.”

Imanaga faced the Brewers three times in the regular season. He gave up seven runs and 12 hits in 17 2/3 innings (3.57 ERA) with three walks and 17 strikeouts. Imanaga also surrendered three home runs in those outings. He has been working to figure out how to better suppress the long ball, which has burned him at times this year, though they have largely come without runners on base.

“The thing that I love most about Shota is there’s a couple things: he’s a competitor, and I think he’s a thinking-man’s competitor, and he also pitches with a lot of joy on the mound while competing at a really high level,” Counsell said. “He doesn’t sometimes come across as this fierce competitor because he’s really joyful on the mound so that doesn’t come across as fierce necessarily, but I think he’s a fierce competitor.

“He’s trying to figure out a way to get you out and he’s trying to figure out a way to be better and that’s going on pitch to pitch, that’s going on between starts. He’s really good at that part of it.”

The series shifts to Wrigley Field for Game 3 on Wednesday.

____