Cubs' Shota Imanaga drawing national attention — but he won't pitch this weekend in St. Louis

ST. LOUIS — Cubs lefty Shota Imanaga grinned from his side of the split screen on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show” on Thursday. He addressed McAfee’s question — what pitch would Imanaga throw McAfee and how far would “[expletive] hit that thing?” — in Japanese as McAfee squared up to the camera in a batting stance, wooden bat in hand.

Imanaga’s interpreter, Edwin Stanberry, couldn’t quite suppress a laugh before he relayed Imanaga’s answer:

“I haven’t seen you swing yet, so I can’t really say. But I’d probably go fastball, kind of near the face.”

Well played, Imanaga. Well played.

Imanaga captured the attention of Cubs fans early on. But now, he’s gaining a national following. And for good reason.

He not only entered Friday with the lowest ERA in the majors (0.84) but is putting together a historic start to his major-league career. It’s the lowest ERA of any major-league starting pitcher through his first nine career starts (excluding openers) since 1913, when earned runs became an official stat in both leagues, surpassing Fernando Valenzuela (0.91 in 1981).

Imanaga originally was scheduled to start in St. Louis on Friday. During a weather delay, the Cardinals estimated that the game would start at 7:55 p.m. The weather apparently had other ideas. Not long before that time stamp, Imanaga jogged in from the bullpen with Stanberry.

The game eventually was postponed and rescheduled as a part of a split doubleheader July 13. The Cubs announced Imanaga’s start would be pushed to the next series, in Milwaukee. Jameson Taillon was set to take the mound for the Cubs on Saturday, as originally scheduled, and Javier Assad will get the start Sunday.

Any St. Louis-based fans hoping to experience “Shotamania” — which Obvious Shirts has put in a shirt — in person were out of luck.

“I just think back to during spring training when I was first watching him, just watching how silly stuff looked in the bullpens,” lefty starter Justin Steele told the Sun-Times. “It’s not too hard to see that he’s going on a run like this. It’s impressive stuff.”

Counsell zoomed out further.

“The game has talked a little bit about reemphasizing starting pitching,” manager Craig Counsell said. “They’re talking about people like this, right? And how it can be -exciting the days that he pitches. And it feels like that, for sure.”

As Imanaga has continued his historic run, the attention on Imanaga has only intensified. But he doesn’t seem to be feeling the pressure. Even on McAfee’s show, he shrugged off his early accomplishments with humility.

“He’s good at a lot of things,” Counsell said when asked about Imanaga’s ability to balance the media attention and availabilities with his job on the mound. “He’s really good with that part as well, and being interesting and entertaining, and giving thoughtful answers. It’s just a credit to who Shota is as a person. It says he’s curious. We learned that when he spoke to the fans and to media for the first time.”

He famously opened his introductory press conference with the lyrics to ‘Go Cubs Go.’

“He’s got a gift for this — or maybe it’s a talent that he’s worked on,” Counsell said. “And he gets it, and he understands it. And it’s not that easy. He’s making it look easier than it really is.”