ATLANTA — Shota Imanaga hadn’t faced much adversity in the first six weeks of his major-league career.
Imanaga’s stellar stretch meant the Chicago Cubs left-hander entered Monday’s start against the Atlanta Braves having navigated few innings with multiple runners on base. Through his first seven starts, Imanaga pitched with at least two runners on in just nine of his 41 2/3 innings. Two of those innings involved fielding errors, and multiple times he got out of it by retiring the next batter.
Imanaga knew he needed to be careful with the Braves lineup, and in the process he dealt with the most traffic he had faced in any start this season.