Cubs Officially Lose Ace for the Foreseeable Future

Cubs didn't dodge a bullet this time as Shōta Imanaga has been placed on the 15-day injured list after suffering a left hamstring strain during Sunday's series finale against the Brewers. After already losing Justin Steele for the rest of the 2025 season because of elbow surgery the Cubs have now lost their ace for the foreseeable future.

After finishing fourth in 2024 NL Rookie of the Year voting and being named to All-MLB's Second Team, Imanaga was once again pitching well at the top of the Cubs rotation to begin the 2025 season. The left-hander has posted a 2.82 ERA in eight starts, but now Imanaga will be out for several weeks.

The Cubs have called up right-handed relief pitcher Gavin Hollowell to take Imanaga's roster spot. The team won't have to replace Imanaga in the starting rotation until the weekend, when the Cubs play the Mets in New York.

The Cubs have a few different routes they can take to find a replacement for Imanaga in the short term. Starters could be pushed up this weekend, Chris Flexen could get a start or maybe the most obvious choice is calling up top pitching prospect Cade Horton.

We'll see later this week what the Cubs decide to do in the starting rotation, but it will definitely be huge shoes to fill for whoever it ends up being.

(Previous Update)

Maybe this a meatball take, but it's hard not to think about why the Cubs didn't take more precaution with Shōta Imanaga and his hamstring cramps earlier this week because now it appears as though the starting pitcher is headed to the injured list.

Imanaga was throwing a gem on Sunday against the Brewers, but he left the game in the sixth inning with an apparent leg injury. Once again it looks like it's his hamstring, but this time it may be more serious than cramps that Imanaga was suffering from in Pittsburgh on Tuesday.

Bad. Really bad. We'll find out how serious the injury is within the next day or so. Right now though, it's likely that the Cubs will be without their top two starting pitchers by the first week of May.

And the Cubs have indeed confirmed that Imanaga was removed because of a hamstring strain.

Even if it's a mild strain we're still looking at several weeks before Imanaga returns to the Cubs. Last year Justin Steele suffered a Grade 1 hamstring strain on March 28, and he made his first start back from the injured list until May 6.