Cubs' Shota Imanaga already connecting with fan base through music, shirts and on-field performance

SEATTLE — While Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga was warming up in the Wrigley Field bullpen before his last start, he caught a glimpse of a TV showing a group of six shirtless fans with his name spelled out on their bare chests: S-H-O-T-A-!

So he was on the lookout when he walked onto the field to play catch. When he was done, he tossed them the ball.

“Because I was pitching without sleeves, they [said they] were going to support me without wearing a shirt,” Imanaga told the Sun-Times. “So, for me, I’m concerned that they might catch a cold or something.”

That concern turned into a partnership with Obvious Shirts. The Chicago-based apparel company reached out with an idea. And by the next evening, the Obvious Shirts account on X, formerly known as Twitter, had quote-tweeted one of the shirtless fans to tell him that Imanaga wanted to buy each of the guys a shirt with his corresponding letter on it and hand-deliver the gifts.

It was the latest example of Imanaga, who transitioned from Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball to MLB this season, making a concerted effort to connect with the Cubs’ fan base. Imanaga (2-0) made his third start Saturday, holding the Mariners to one unearned run in 5 1/3 innings in the Cubs’ 4-1 victory.

“It’s just the nature of Shota’s personality,” manager Craig Counsell said. “That’s just how he is; it’s who he is. It makes him happy and is how he puts himself in a good position to compete.”

Imanaga’s commitment was clear from his introductory news conference. He opened with: “Hey, Chicago, what do you say? Cubs are going to win today,” before delivering his introductory statement in English.

He and his agents at Octagon had talked about how to set his news conference apart. He practiced the day before and the day of, for a total of about 2½ hours, making sure he could get the inflections and pronunciation right with a sheet of paper in front of him for reference. The hard work paid off.

His news conference kicked off the Cubs Convention, where he began to meet his new teammates.

“I’ve done some studying about stress and how [when] moving to a different country, getting acclimated with the culture is really important,” Imanaga said. “So, for me, watching my teammates, other MLB players, how they throw around the football, they chew seeds in the dugout, they chew gum, that is important to connect with my teammates. So it’s almost trying to get rid of a wall that’s been created between the languages.”

In NPB, some of Imanaga’s international teammates would throw a football around, and he’d join them.

“But I wasn’t able to throw it cleanly,” he said.

He has had a lot more practice stateside, beginning in spring training. His fellow pitchers, especially Yency Almonte and Justin Steele, have given him tips.

As the season began, it was time for Imanaga to choose walk-in music. He pulled from a quintessential Chicago experience he’d had in November: attending a Blackhawks game.

“It was just the perfect fit,” Imanaga said of ‘‘Chelsea Dagger,’’ the Hawks’ goal song. “It was important to not pick a song that I like, just pick a song that the fans will enjoy.”

By his next start, Imanaga already was enough of a fan favorite for a shirtless group to brave chilly conditions to show their support. He rewarded them with another dominant outing before his start was cut short by a rain delay.

On Saturday, Imanaga became the first Cubs pitcher to allow no earned runs and throw at least four innings in each of his first three career appearances since at least 1913 (when earned runs became an official stat in both leagues), according to MLB.com.

“For me, what’s important is to make sure I put up good numbers, I have good results,” Imanaga said of the fan support, “and make sure the fans are going to enjoy watching me play and have passion.”