Shota Imanaga had a much more 2025-type outing this time around, not locating all that well, and giving up three solo home runs in his 2.2 innings of work yesterday against the White Sox. The velocity was still up in the 93 mph range like his first spring appearance, so that’s good, and it remains a true statement that you cannot worry too much about the results for a veteran who is ramping up in Spring Training.
But I think for all of us, when there is a very specific pre-existing concern (home runs allowed on belt-high pitches), it’s more fair to discuss some of those spring results. Not necessarily WORRY yet, but point them out; it’s sort of the inverse of how we are watching the positive stuff a little more closely, too, given the hamstring injury last year and the way his season ended.
In this case, however, the interesting thing is that the three home runs weren’t on belt-high pitches (a splitter and a slider at the bottom of the zone, and a four-seamer above it). Based on the catcher setup, it seems like Shota Imanaga didn’t bury a splitter, and the other two missed quite a bit east-west. Against that backdrop, I don’t think a few spring homers are going to bother me that much. Healthy velo, working all his pitches, stretching out to 47 pitches. All good stuff, and typically more meaningful this time of year.
Interesting note here, Shota Imanaga may be calling some of his own pitches this year (with an extra interesting bit on how the pitcher and the catcher can use their devices to communicate back and forth and settle on the right pitch):
I noticed Shota using PitchCom on his glove today.Next half inning we happened to be interviewing Tommy Hottovy, so I asked him about it. Interesting stuff ⬇️ Shota always looking for ways to get better: pic.twitter.com/aladVnEOhk
— Elise Menaker (@EliseMenaker) March 1, 2026Hopefully that’s something he and Carson Kelly/Miguel Amaya can settle into a rhythm on, where everyone is trusting everyone else, and they ultimately get to the best pitch (for that situation, for that batter, for that day’s “feel”) more often than not. I like the idea of a veteran pitcher with a diverse pitch mix having the authority to call for himself in general, though.
Shota Imanaga Speaks
As for the outing, Shota Imanaga gave his thoughts, and you get the sense that it all seemed pretty standard to him. Getting his work in, getting the right in-between start work done, resting appropriately, and so on and so forth. He added that, yes, the average fastball velocity does matter – he wants it to be there where it’s been – but he also wants to know that he has the ability to sustain that velo later into starts:
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