Shota Imanaga’s ERA exploded after bad outing

May 1, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Shota Imanaga (18) pitches against the New York Mets during the second inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Chicago Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga entered Friday night’s game against the New York Mets sporting a 7-1 record and a 1.89 ERA. He had largely avoided a “welcome to MLB” moment this season but all of that changed in a hurry.

Imanaga was hammered in front of the hometown crowd, surrendering 11 hits, three home runs and allowing 10 runs over 3.0 innings pitched. As a result, his ERA skyrocketed.

Shota Imanaga's ERA went from 1.89 to 2.96 today. He was third in MLB and now he's 16th pic.twitter.com/HeLQotpqBk

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 21, 2024

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters after the victory that they had a very specific gameplan for Imanaga going into the night and they carried it out to near-perfection.

“We took [Imanaga’s] heater away,” Mendoza said, via the New York Post. “We were ready for the fastball and when we got pitches in the zone, especially with the fastball, we were ready to go. … One through nine, I thought the approach was great because we were ready for his fastball.”

Imanaga concurred.

“They were ready for the fastball and ready for the breaking balls in the zone,” Imanaga said, via the Chicago Sun Times. “I made an adjustment toward that, but they made another adjustment on top of that. So I think moving forward I just need to keep making those adjustments.”

Imanaga will attempt to bounce-back on Wednesday, June 26 against the San Francisco Giants.