Shota Imanaga said he doesn’t take lightly the “honor” of being named Opening Day starter for the Chicago Cubs on March 18 in Tokyo.
Imanaga is expected to oppose countryman Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Dodgers in the first of a two-game set labeled the Tokyo Series.
“It’s a great honor,” Imanaga said on Wednesday of the nod, communicated through interpreter Edwin Stanberry. “I have to say, though, that the reason that the Japanese players are getting a lot of attention is because of all the players in the past that came before us who created this path for all the Japanese players. We are walking on their history. I want to say thank you to all of them. And I’m very excited.”
Imanaga was named to the National League All-Star team in his first year in the big leagues last season. He finished 15-3 with a 2.91 ERA in 29 starts for the Cubs and was a top-five finisher in the NL Cy Young and Rookie of the Year voting.
“They’re (probably) starting Yamamoto. We’re starting Shota,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said. “I think the fan interest — world-wide fan interest — is going to be off the charts. I think it’s an awesome thing, just for the game of baseball.”
Manager Dave Roberts of the Dodgers watched closely as Yamamoto threw his latest bullpen session on Wednesday, then named him the starter for the spring training opener against the Cubs on Thursday.
Roberts said Yamamoto is “considerably ahead of where he was last year” in his first MLB season, which also began with a start in Japan. He was pulled after one inning and gave up five earned runs, taking the loss against the Padres.
National League MVP Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers is one of several Japanese stars on the rosters of the two teams. In addition to Imanaga, the Cubs feature outfielder Seiya Suzuki and Los Angeles signed Roki Sasaki, one of the top free agents on the market in the offseason. Roberts said last week he will likely use Sasaki in the second game of the series in Tokyo.
Suzuki, who lamented declining youth baseball participation in Japan, said he was at Tokyo Dome as a 9-year-old when Hideki Matsui hit a home run for the Yankees in the opening series of the 2004 season.
