Cubs need starting pitching at trade deadline, but with Shota Imanaga dazzling, they’ve already got their ace

Rob Refsnyder was ready, smacking Shota Imanaga’s first pitch Saturday night into the left-center field gap for a leadoff double.

But ready or not, the Red Sox couldn’t do much of anything else against the Cubs’ lefty starter following their left fielder’s game-opening smash, Imanaga incredibly effective in the North Siders’ 6-0 win.

With baseball’s trade season upon them, it’s time for Jed Hoyer & Co. to finally address the starting-pitching need that’s been hanging over this team for much of the campaign.

But while the Cubs certainly need reinforcements to boost a staff that’s still battling injuries, they already have, in Imanaga, the one thing every team chasing a championship requires: an ace.

“The [Cubs’] record in his starts, it’s 32-10. That’s an ace-level record right there. That’s as good as it gets,” manager Craig Counsell said. “He’s pitching at a really high level, and it feels like he’s gotten into this groove, in kind of midseason form now.”

Imanaga has been dazzling since returning from a lengthy injured-list stint. The lefty has allowed a total of six runs in five starts, including the seven shutout innings he tossed Saturday.

He stranded Refsnyder in scoring position in the first inning, striking out back-to-back Red Sox after Refsnyder reached third base. From there, he escaped twice more, stranding a pair of runners in the second inning and again in the seventh to polish off his second scoreless outing since coming off the IL.

It made for consecutive Imanaga gems against AL East contenders, matching the seven innings of one-run, two-hit ball he tossed against the Yankees in the Cubs’ final game before the All-Star break.

“He just got better as the game went and was just excellent,” Counsell said. “Just a masterful performance again.”

Several arms, be it righty Colin Rea or right-handed rookie Cade Horton, have stepped up to various degrees and helped the Cubs survive an onslaught of pitching injuries.

Be it because of decreasing depth or those pitchers’ at times inconsistent performances, it’s long seemed Hoyer would need to add pitching at the deadline if the Cubs are to remain true World Series contenders.

But in addition to one of baseball’s best offenses – the Cubs homered five times Saturday – and a stellar group of defenders, Imanaga stands as a reason the Cubs are contenders in the first place.

As much as the rotation is an area that needs to be addressed before the end of the month, the No. 1 spot in that rotation is no concern.

“Shota, he’s one of the best pitchers in the world,” first baseman Michael Busch said. “Anytime you get him on the mound, you know you’ve got a good shot to win.”

First-pitch power

If Refsnyder tattooed Imanaga’s first pitch of the game, we’re going to need a new verb for what Busch did to the first pitch of the bottom of the first inning.

Busch blasted Brayan Bello’s initial offering into the bleachers for his 20th homer of the season, the first half of back-to-back jacks alongside right fielder Kyle Tucker to stake the Cubs a nearly instant advantage. Third baseman Matt Shaw, center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong and left fielder Ian Happ all homered later in the game.

Busch was batting in the leadoff spot as part of Counsell’s recent lineup maneuvering, undertaken in the Cubs’ final games of the first half in an effort to snap Happ out of a slump.

“Ian is an important part of this offense, a very important part of this offense. And I think he’s going to have a really good last two and a half months of the season,” Counsell said of his new middle-of-the-order hitter. “He’s in a spot now where he can drive in a lot of runs. But he’s an important part of this offense, and I’m fully confident that he’s going to be that moving forward.”

It remains early in the experiment, though Happ’s eighth-inning homer is an obvious positive. Happ is 5-for-15 in the four games since being moved from the leadoff spot.