Cubs’ Shota Imanaga throws a pitch during the first inning against the Brewers at American Family Field on May 29, 2024 in Milwaukee. For as frigid as the Chicago Cubs’ offensive production has been in May, they are still hovering around .500.
Every Friday during the season, Tribune baseball writers will provide an update on what happened — and what’s ahead — for the Cubs and White Sox. Want more?Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga’s electric beginning to his major-league career showed how well he can pitch at his best, but the rookie wasn’t going carry a sub-1.00 ERA through the season.The Brewers tagged Imanaga for seven runs in 4 1/3 innings, including five in the third.
“That’s important, you’re going to have a bad inning, right?” Counsell said. “He had a rough inning, recovered and that’s what great pitchers do.” “For me, it was special. I had my family there. My kids who had never seen me put on a uniform, so it was really cool.”“They were like, ‘Daddy, you don’t play. You sit and watch the game,’ ” Barfield said. “It was really fun to get to see their faces. They got to come down on the field for batting practice, so that was really special.”
“Guys cutting up — that’s what you miss too from playing,” Barfield said. “The laughing and the joking. So many characters when you are on the team. Getting to hear some of that again, just being back on the field. The Cubs will continue to monitor his workload to ensure they can get Brown, 24, through the full big-league season. He totaled 92 2/3 innings last year between Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa and is already halfway there with four months to go. Brown has exceeded 100 innings only once in his professional career, coming in 2022 when he was traded from the Phillies organization to the Cubs at High A and Double A .