Pirates’ fans understand Cubs’ fans frustration

Supporters of the Chicago Cubs who were frustrated at Shota Imanaga being yanked despite throwing seven hitless innings Wednesday at Wrigley Field have common ground with Pittsburgh Pirates fans who can relate to the feeling.

Imanaga no-hit the Pirates, striking out seven in an eventual 12-0 win, but was removed by Cubs manager Craig Counsell after 95 pitches.

Two Chicago relievers, Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge, retired the Pirates in order in the eighth and ninth to complete the combined no-hitter, but Imanaga himself was denied a chance at an accomplishment all starters dream of.

That mirrored the situation Pirates rookie Paul Skenes found himself in on July 11 against Milwaukee.

Skenes had a no-hitter through seven innings, striking out 11 Brewers, but manager Derek Shelton ended his outing at 99 pitches.

Counsell told reporters in Chicago postgame that he had his 31-year-old rookie’s health in mind when opting to turn to the bullpen, ending Imanaga’s no-hit bid.

“It’s always hard to do in that situation,” he said. “But, you’re taking care of Shota. That’s 100% about taking care of Shota and making sure we’re doing the right thing for him. It’s not fun to do, but when you’re prioritizing the player’s health – you don’t know what’s going to happen going forward and we want him to stay healthy. He’s at a career high in innings and is doing a great job.”

Imanaga, who joined the Cubs this season after pitching seven successful years with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball, held no hard feelings.

“It’s really important for me to stay healthy for the whole season, throw my innings, make my starts, so (Counsell) told me maybe it’s time to switch pitchers,” Imagana said through a translator. “I just trusted his judgment.”

Back in July, Shelton explained his decision to remove Skenes.

“He was tired. Really didn’t have anything to do with pitch count,” Shelton said at the time. “Everybody makes it about pitch count. It was about where he was at.

“Even after the sixth, we could tell he was getting a little bit tired. I think that’s the first time we’ve seen it with the volume that he’s had. But overall, the fact that he was able to go back and get through the seventh, it was really impressive. He did a great job.”

Imanaga and Skenes both being pulled with no-hitters around 100 pitches is emblematic of how managers choose to operate in today’s MLB.

Looking across the league, Houston’s Joe Espada made the same decision in mid-June, pulling Astros starter Ronel Blanco after seven nohit innings at 94 pitches.

For the Pirates, Skenes so far into his career looks every part of a generational talent, one who could play a major role in reversing the club’s prospects.

Imanaga is inked to a fouryear, $53-million deal with the Cubs.

Blanco, 31, is in his third big-league season and is making only $749,800, per Spotrac.

Much to the irritation of fans, MLB skippers have incentive to guard their pitchers’ arms, even at the cost of major individual accolades.

“For us, that was the right thing to do,” Counsell said.