Cubs take cautious approach with Shota Imanaga injury return

Chicago Cubs fans have been anxiously waiting for ace Shota Imanaga to return from the Injured List, but that wait will continue a little longer than expected. The Cubs are making it clear they're taking a cautious approach with Imanaga's return from injury, as manager Craig Counsell said on Tuesday that the left-hander s still a few more rehab starts away from a return to the Majors.

Imanaga has been sidelined since May 4, when he exited his start against the Milwaukee Brewers with two outs in the sixth inning. The Japanese star was diagnosed with a left hamstring strain and has been slowly ramping back up over the past few weeks. Imanaga threw a bullpen session in Arizona this past weekend and followed that up with a two-inning appearance in the Arizona Complex League on Monday.

Tommy Hottovy, who is now in his seventh season as Cubs pitching coach, said on Tuesday that Imanaga would hopefully make another rehab start later this week after tossing 40 pitches in his first live game since suffering the injury. Fans might have hoped that Imanaga could return as early as next week after a second rehab outing; that seemed like a safe assumption, seeing that Justin Steele only needed one three-inning start at Triple-A in 2024 to return from a strained hamstring of his own.

However, this time around the Cubs are taking it slower with Imanaga. Counsell explained as much during an interview on 670 The Score's Spiegel & Holmes Show.

"Shota has got a couple more starts before you're going to see him in Chicago," Counsell said. "That's because as a starter, you've got to go through this process where you're lengthened out and your arm recovers."

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Cubs are wise to play the long game with Shota Imanaga injury

Imanaga made 29 starts for the Cubs during his rookie season in 2024. He logged 173.1 innings, topping his career high of 170 innings in 2019 with the Yokohama Bay Stars in Japan. The Cubs made sure to handle Imanaga carefully as a rookie last season to help him adjust to the rigors of an MLB schedule, which is slightly more taxing to a starting pitcher compared to the NPB, where starters usually pitch every sixth day rather than every fifth. Out of Imanaga's 29 starts last season, 23 came with at least five days of rest.

There's no doubt that the Cubs want Imanaga 100% healthy before he comes back into the starting rotation. Even if he's physically ready a bit earlier, the Cubs may have limited his pitch count following his extended time off. Now, an extra rehab start could strengthen Imanaga's chances of being fully prepared to take on his usual workload once he's activated from the IL.

The timing of this decision really speaks to how safe the Cubs are playing it with Imanaga. Yes, a four-game lead in the NL Central gives Chicago some wiggle room at the moment, but the team is also currently in the midst of playing 26 games in 27 days. This grueling stretch will take a toll on the pitching staff; even with that factored in, though, the Cubs are not looking to bring Imanaga back sooner than some may have anticipated.

Prior to his hamstring injury, Imanaga posted a stellar 2.82 ERA in eight starts with the Cubs to begin the 2025 season. In his absence, Chicago has turned to top pitching prospect Cade Horton to fill in for the star lefty. Horton made his MLB debut on May 10 against the New York Mets, and in six appearances since the right-hander has a 4.11 ERA in 30.2 innings. The Cubs are 5-1 in Horton's six starts this year.

The Cubs are certainly hoping that by taking a cautious approach with Imanaga in June it will pay off down the stretch and into October.