"Over six innings of one-run ball, Imanaga induced a whopping 22 whiffs and 10 strikeouts, continuing a trend we've seen all year as he bounces back."
"One of the biggest differences between last season and this season was on display yesterday against the Reds, with Shota Imanaga able to live successfully at the top of the strike zone with his four-seamer (6 whiffs), and play his devastating splitter off of it down and away (14 whiffs). The splitter was still a good pitch last year, but the fastball lost a MPH, lost induced vertical, and lost location to such a degree that it not only made the fastball so much more hittable, but impaired the productivity of the splitter, too."
"The first thing you see is that Shota Imanaga's fastball, which was a 10th percentile offering in 2025, has leapt up to the 88th(!) percentile in 2026. And his offspeed percentile (that's the splitter) has climbed from 91st percentile to 100th(!) percentile (it's just Imanaga and Nathan Eovaldi there at the very top)."
"The combined improvement in the four-seamer and the splitter have meant that Shota Imanaga is getting much more chase this year out of the strike zone. His whiff rate is much higher. His strikeout rate is DRAMATICALLY higher. He has even improved the quality of contact he's giving up by a wide margin."
Shota Imanaga pitched six innings of one-run ball, producing 22 whiffs and 10 strikeouts against the Reds. The performance continued a season-long trend of bouncing back. His four-seamer generated six whiffs by living at the top of the strike zone, while his splitter generated 14 whiffs by moving down and away. Compared with last season, the fastball lost less velocity, induced vertical, and location, which improved both fastball hittability and splitter productivity. Statcast percentile changes show his fastball rising from the 10th percentile in 2025 to the 88th percentile in 2026, and his splitter rising from the 91st percentile to the 100th percentile. The combined improvements increased chase, whiff rate, strikeout rate, and contact quality.
Read at Bleacher Nation
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