How rare lefty splitter has helped fuel Shota Imanaga’s historic start for Cubs
CHICAGO — Five years ago in Japan, Shota Imanaga searched for a new pitch. He wanted to incorporate something that would use the same arm path as his four-seam fastball. Imanaga didn’t like his tendency to pull his arm down when throwing change-ups, so he tinkered. The left-hander landed on a split-finger grip that felt good in bullpen sessions, and eventually he threw it in games. Once he saw ...
CHICAGO — Five years ago in Japan, Shota Imanaga searched for a new pitch.
He wanted to incorporate something that would use the same arm path as his four-seam fastball. Imanaga didn’t like his tendency to pull his arm down when throwing change-ups, so he tinkered. The left-hander landed on a split-finger grip that felt good in bullpen sessions, and eventually he threw it in games.
Once he saw Nippon Professional Baseball hitters’ reaction to the splitter, Imanaga knew he had a potentially great pitch.
Since he joined the Chicago Cubs rotation this year, Imanaga’s splitter has been nearly unhittable with a 47.7% whiff rate and a .177 expected average. San Diego Padres hitters whiffed on 15 of the 24 splitters
