Fantasy Baseball Player Notes

Shota Imanaga arrived at MLB and upstaged his fellow countryman, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, mostly by staying healthy. Imanaga started 29 games for the Cubs, pitching 173 1/3 innings and racking up 174 strikeouts while maintaining a 2.91 ERA and 1.02 WHIP. He also kicked in a 15-3 record to boost his fantasy impact. His 25.1% strikeout rate and microscopic 4.0% walk rate furthered his case as Chicago's ace. The biggest red flag for Imanaga this season is that his 2.91 ERA was a mirage, thanks to an unsustainable 80.2% LOB percentage. His xERA was 3.46, and that should be closer to the expectation going forward. Imanaga is a high-end SP2 on draft day.