MESA, Ariz. — Shota Imanaga couldn’t remember his stats in the Tokyo Dome when asked about his opening-day start against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“I’m not sure on the numbers,” Imanaga said Wednesday through an interpreter. “But I have given up pretty big home runs there.”
The Chicago Cubs hope history doesn’t repeat itself when Imanaga faces Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto on March 18 in Japan, the opener of the much-hyped two-game Tokyo Series.
Imanaga, 31, learned about the honor from manager Craig Counsell a few days ago, and the Cubs announced it Tuesday on their X account.
“I believe I heard this will be the first time in MLB two Japanese pitchers face off in a series in Japan,” Imanaga said. “I’m very honored and have to say that the reason the Japanese players are getting a lot of attention is because of all the Japanese players in the past who came before us and created this path. We’re walking in their history. Thank you to all of them.”
Imanaga hasn’t spoken with Yamamoto but said he was buying socks at a mall Tuesday when he ran into one of his friends. What was Yamamoto’s reaction to the news?
“He said it’s not time to be buying socks right now,” Imanaga deadpanned.
Imanaga, who was an All-Star as a rookie last season, is likely to throw only 65 pitches or so in the game because he’s still building up arm strength in spring training.
“It’s important to him and important to us that both he and Seiya (Suzuki) have a great experience over there,” Counsell said. “It’s also got to feel like a lot for him, and we want to do our best to help him with that as well.”
President Jed Hoyer said both Imanaga and Justin Steele deserved the opening-day start.
“Obviously because we’re going to be in Japan it makes total sense to have Shota going Game 1,” Hoyer said. “I think it’s going to be awesome, honestly. They’re starting Yamamoto, we’re starting Shota. You look at the game they played in September.
“Fan interest worldwide is going to be off the charts. An awesome thing for the game of baseball. (Dodgers manager) Dave Roberts and I were talking about that the other night — this is great for the game. What better thing than to have those two guys face off for Game 1, with Shohei (Ohtani) and Seiya in the lineup. Baseball is going to benefit from this.”
The Japanese media on hand at Cubs camp said the crowd is likely to be 80-90% Dodgers fans, or more specifically, Ohtani fans. Imanaga said fans have “cheer” sections for their own players.
“They do have songs like ‘Go, Cubbies, Go,’” he said. “But for the home fans, they have a cheer song for each individual player so the team and players can be together.”
Would Japanese fans know the words to “Go, Cubs, Go”?
“Core fans there who know who I am would know,” he said.
Steele, who started last year’s opener in Texas, will start Game 2 of the series, barring unforeseen circumstances. He said it was “appropriate” for Imanaga to get the call, and he’s already planning on getting Imanaga to be his Yelp adviser on local restaurants.
“I’ve been asking him about where we’re going to eat,” Steele said. “I’m all about the food, all about the food.”
Pretend games: The Cubs begin Cactus League play Thursday at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz., facing the Dodgers in a game televised on MLB Network. Michael Busch is the only regular position player expected to be in the lineup as Counsell tries to keep his team from doing too much too soon.
“I think spring training games have that great energy the first hour,” Counsell said with a laugh. “But in our case this year there’s some added urgency. We leave for Japan in 20 days. That give everybody a ‘make each day count’ type of message.”
Counsell hopes to get his regulars about 20 at-bats before the March 18 opener. The Cubs looked at the lockout-shortened spring of 2022 and the pandemic-delayed “spring” in the summer of 2020 when trying to gauge the number of at-bats needed to get hitters prepared for a regular-season game with a shorter ramp-up than normal.
Oohs and aahs: Counsell said he’s not that interested in the automated ball-strike (ABS) system that’s being used Thursday for the first time in a major-league game. The challenge system was implemented in Triple A last year, but it’s for selected spring training games only and won’t be used in the regular season.
“It’s a test for some future unknown thing, so it’s a little hard to put in your head and really prepare for it,” Counsell said. “There’s enough we’ve really got to be ready for. I’m sure we’ll see the first (successful challenge) and there may be an ooh or maybe an aah.”
According to MLB, 51% of the challenges in Triple A were overturned last year, including 48% of offense challenges (hitters contesting a called strike) and 54% of defensive ones (pitchers contesting a ball).
Cactus kings: The Cubs’ first home game is Friday at Sloan Park, also against the Dodgers. The White Sox travel to Sloan on Saturday, followed by the Texas Rangers on Sunday.
The first two home games are expected to be sellouts or near-sellouts. Marquee Sports Network will televise all three games, with Nico Hoerner making a guest appearance in the booth Friday. Matt Spiegel and Ron Coomer will call games for WSCR-AM 670 on Friday and Sunday, with Pat Hughes scheduled for later this spring.
This year’s home schedule is front-loaded with 12 games before the Japan trip and five after the Cubs return to Mesa. The Cubs annually lead the 15 Cactus League teams in attendance, and they expect an influx of many last-minute snowbirds from Chicago trying to flee the latest polar vortex.
“It’s very different,” Counsell said of Sloan Park’s atmosphere. “We’ll feel the same thing Friday that we feel (in Thursday’s opener). It adds something for everybody, for sure. The crowds last year were incredible — a Tuesday night and 14,000 people. It feels like they could add 10,000 seats and fill it up.”
Turner arrives: Justin Turner showed up at camp Wednesday for a physical but was unavailable to address the media before the signing of the 40-year-old infielder — one year for a reported $6 million — was made official. His long hair is gone, but the scraggly beard remains intact. … Former White Sox pitcher Chris Flexen was in uniform after signing a minor-league deal, joining former Sox shortstop Nicky Lopez in Cubs camp.
