Shota Returning! But Who’s the Odd Man Out?
Coming off a successful rehab start with the Iowa Cubs, Craig Counsell announced on Saturday that Shota Imanaga would return to the big league squad during the team’s series in St. Louis—a much-needed boost to a Chicago pitching staff that has been plagued by injuries in the first half of the season.
The team first lost Justin Steele in April to Tommy John Surgery, then lost Imanaga in early May to a left-hamstring strain.
When Steele went down, the Cubs turned to right-hander Colin Rea to fill the void in the starting rotation. While Rea was initially intended to be an addition to the bullpen, his presence made him a serviceable replacement for Steele. Through his first seven starts, Rea exceeded expectations, posting a 2.72 ERA.
But, as anticipated, he couldn’t maintain that level of performance—over his past six starts, his ERA sat at 7.11.
| ERA From April 13th – May 18th | ERA From May 24th – June 22nd |
| 2.72 | 7.11 |
On May 4, Shota Imanaga went down with a hamstring strain, prompting the Cubs to call up their No. 2 overall prospect Cade Horton. While Horton was expected to get called up at some point during the 2025 season, this timing came as a surprise. In his eight major league appearances so far, Horton has done a solid job holding things down during Imanaga’s absence, posting a 3.73 ERA. In all but one start, he managed to pitch at least five innings before handing it over to the bullpen.
One factor that made the transition easier for Rea and Horton was the strength of Chicago’s bullpen, which has looked like one of the top units in baseball. Manager Craig Counsell didn’t need to rely on his starters to make it through six or seven innings consistently. Instead, they could get through five before turning it over to the bullpen to finish the job.
With one starter returning, that means that someone will be bounced from the rotation.
Personally, I think it should either be Colin Rea or Ben Brown, with completely different reasoning for each one.
| Reasoning for Colin Rea | Reasoning for Ben Brown |
| Fall off in productionAge | Two-pitch pitcherStruggle with commandRising pitch count |
However, I believe that both Rea and Brown could end up out of the rotation, especially if Jed Hoyer and the front office make a move for a starting pitcher at the trade deadline—something I wouldn’t be surprised to see. For now, though, I think Rea will be the odd man out, given how his performance has been trending over the past month.
Shota Imanaga is set to start on Thursday against the division rival St. Louis Cardinals, and what a time to have him back in the rotation.
Chicago sits just 3.5 games ahead of the Brewers in the NL Central Standings, with the Cardinals not far behind.
It will be interesting to see what Craig Counsell decides to do regarding the crowded starting rotation.
PHOTO: Brad Rempel/Imagn Images
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