Imanaga accepted a one-year, $22.025 million qualifying offer from the Cubs on Tuesday, Patrick Mooney of The Athletic reports.
The Cubs declined Imanaga's three-year, $57.75 million option earlier this month, but the left-hander will remain in Chicago after taking the team's qualifying offer. Imanaga held a 4.70 second-half ERA and 8.10 ERA in two postseason starts, but he boasts a 3.28 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 291:54 K:BB over 318 regular-season innings since the beginning of the 2024 campaign.
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Shota Imanaga: Handed qualifying offer
Rotowire
The Cubs extended Imanaga a one-year, $22.05 million qualifying offer on Thursday, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.
Chicago opted to decline Imanaga's three-year, $57.75 million option earlier this week, but they'll extend the 32-year-old southpaw a qualifying offer. Imanaga could forego the qualifying offer and hit the open market, which would net the Cubs draft compensation if he signs elsewhere. After a stellar rookie campaign in 2024, Imanaga took a step back during the 2025 regular season. His ERA dropped from 2.91 to 3.73, his K/9 moved from 9.0 to 7.3 and his HR/9 went from 1.4 to 1.9.
The Cubs declined Imanaga's three-year, $57.75 million option Tuesday, Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com reports.
The team deciding against picking up Imanaga's three-year option triggered a $15.25 million player option, which the pitcher also declined, making Imanaga a free agent. It's unclear whether the Cubs intend to make the southpaw a one-year, $22.025 million qualifying offer. Imanaga held a 4.70 second-half ERA and 8.10 ERA in two postseason starts, and his strikeout rate dipped to 20.6 percent in 2025. However, with a 3.28 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 291:54 K:BB over 318 regular-season innings since the beginning of the 2024 campaign, Imanaga will draw plenty of interest on the free-agent market.
Imanaga took the loss Monday in Game 2 of the National League Division Series against the Brewers after allowing four runs on five hits while striking out three over 2.2 innings.
Imanaga was hit hard in his second appearance of the postseason, immediately squandering a three-run lead in the bottom of the first inning courtesy of a three-run home run by Andrew Vaughn. Imanaga's outing didn't improve much after this initial blow, as William Contreras struck for a solo shot in the bottom of the third, effectively ending the left-hander's outing. The silver lining to Imanaga's brief start is that he kept his pitch count low, meaning he could have a chance to come back later in the series if the Cubs are able to extend the NLDS.
Cubs manager Craig Counsell said that Imanaga will start Monday in Game 2 of the NLDS against Milwaukee, Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
Imanaga last pitched Wednesday in a Game 2 wild-card loss to the Padres, throwing 67 pitches across four innings after reliever Andrew Kittredge opened the game. The 31-year-old lefty will move back into a traditional starting role Monday and will look to help the Cubs even the series after a 9-3 loss in Game 1. Imanaga faced Milwaukee three times during the regular season, allowing seven runs with 17 strikeouts and 3 walks across 17.2 innings.
Imanaga gave up two earned runs on three hits and two walks while striking out three batters over four relief innings during Wednesday's 3-0 loss to the Padres. He did not factor into the decision.
The left-hander entered the game in the second inning after opener Andrew Kittredge allowed the Padres to score a run in the first. Imanaga made it through three frames before conceding a two-run blast to Manny Machado in the fifth, which gave the Padres more insurance than it needed while the Cubs' offense struggled to put a rally together. If Chicago prevails in Thursday's win-or-go-home matchup, Imanaga would likely be in the running to pitch in Game 3 of the NLDS next Wednesday.
Imanaga (9-8) allowed eight runs on nine hits and a walk while striking out three over 5.2 innings to take the loss Thursday versus the Mets.
Imanaga had one of his worst starts of the year in his regular-season finale. He had not given up more than three earned runs in any of his last 10 starts, pitching to a decent 3.69 ERA over 61 innings in that span. The southpaw ends the regular season at a 3.73 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 117:26 K:BB across 144.2 innings through 25 starts. Imanaga will likely get a start during the Cubs' wild-card series, as he will be on regular rest as of Tuesday.
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