Cubs fans quickly learned to appreciate Shota Imanaga. 

Thursday night he received recognition from the rest of the baseball world. 

The Cubs left-handed starter was named to the All-MLB 2nd team, which was announced at the All-MLB Awards Show in Las Vegas. 

Imanaga capped the awards ceremony by joining Dexter Fowler and comedian Roy Wood Jr. in singing “Go Cubs Go”.

The rookie came to the Cubs with a sense of unknown — what would his transition to Major League Baseball be like? Where would he fit in the Cubs pitching staff?

[READ: The genius of Shota Imanaga]

Imanaga emphatically answered all of them — he was one of the best pitchers not only on the team but league-wide. He finished with a 2.91 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP in 173.1 innings across 29 starts. 

Beyond those numbers, though, he was a stabilizing force at the top of the Cubs rotation. The Cubs were a whopping 23-6 in games he started, putting them in prime position to win every time he took the ball. 

His finest moment of his season came on September 4. Imanaga stifled the Pirates across 7 no-hit innings with 7 strikeouts and 2 walks. Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge would combine to complete the no-hitter, the first by the Cubs since 2021. 

Imanaga stymied hitters all year while primarily relying on a two-pitch mix — his fastball up in the zone and his splitter down. It was a way for Imanaga to simplify himself, knowing he could still have success in doing so. 

“I still think the best thing and the genius in Shota this year is that he actually came here and simplified who he was,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said near the end of the year. “And that’s hard to do when you come to a new place and think you have to be better. He didn’t have to be better.

“He actually made himself simpler. And there’s real genius in that, I think.”

[MORE: Projecting the 2025 Cubs roster]

He was the Cubs lone All-Star at the 2024 Midsummer Classic in Texas. 

Imanaga will enter 2025 at the top of the Cubs rotation, with the potential to start Opening Day in his native Japan in March against the Dodgers.