Cubs takeaways: Imanaga an ace, Busch comes out swinging and the players who used break wisely
'It does tell you what we've done,' manager Craig Counsell said. 'But I know we're not going to look back. We're going to look to the next game. We've got a lot of work ahead of us. But it's a credit to what the guys are doing. As much as anything, we think we've been a consistent baseball team and that bodes well going forward.'
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Here are four takeaways from a Saturday that was packed full of good news for the North Siders.
The impact of Imanaga's return to the Cubs rotation can't be overstated. The lefty missed nearly two months after straining a hamstring in early May. While the team continued to play good baseball, it's clear that Imanaga, when he's at his best, makes this team look all the more dangerous.
Since Imanaga joined the team before the 2024 season, he's made 42 starts. The Cubs have won 32 of those games.
'That's ace-level record right there,' Counsell said. 'That's as good as it gets. He's pitching at a really high level, and it feels like he's gotten into this groove. Mid-season form now.'
shota quality start just dropped: pic.twitter.com/YjJYjkXA53
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) July 20, 2025
With seven shutout innings on Saturday, Imanaga lowered his ERA to 2.40 on the season. In his last two starts, he's combined for just one run allowed in 14 innings. After struggling with this early on this season, Imanaga is getting much more swing-and-miss lately. In particular, his splitter seems to be in top form. On Saturday, he tied a season-high with 15 whiffs, 10 coming on the splitter, a season-best for the pitch.
'There are times where the splitter wasn't as good in the past,' Imanaga said through his interpreter. 'Talking to the pitching coaches, we have discussions every time and with the bullpens too. It almost felt like a show and tell. You work on something, and then the game becomes the time to showcase what you have. Today, it was really fun. I felt like my splitter was working.'
The Cubs will continue to look to add starting pitching. But with a healthy Imanaga seemingly getting better with each start and Matthew Boyd continuing to look like a Cy Young candidate, the Cubs have a formidable 1-2 punch at the top of their rotation.
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Cade Horton will start Sunday's finale against Boston, and Boyd will go Tuesday against the Kansas City Royals. Counsell said Monday's starter was still to be determined, but one source said Ben Brown was likely to be called up from Triple A and make the start.
Busch was inserted into the leadoff spot last Sunday in New York and will continue in that spot when a righty starts for the opposition for the foreseeable future. On Saturday, when Brayan Bello left a first-pitch sinker over the heart of the plate, Busch didn't hesitate, sending the pitch to the left-center bleachers to give the Cubs a quick 1-0 lead.
LEAD-OFF BUSCH. pic.twitter.com/4k6WFjx0Xd
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) July 19, 2025
'Just sticking to the approach that I always have,' Busch said about hitting leadoff. 'It's a little different. It's kind of like leading off an inning. You come in, you're leading off, you get out there, and you just try and have your at-bat. The game will kind of tell you maybe what you have to do first pitch. I like to hit from the start.'
Busch now has nine first-pitch home runs for his career, eight with the Cubs. It was his third of the season, and for his career, he entered Saturday's game with a 1.133 OPS when putting the first pitch in play.
On Sunday, the Red Sox will send lefty Garrett Crochet to the mound, which means Nico Hoerner will lead off. Before the All-Star break, Counsell decided to go with Hoerner and Busch as his primary leadoff men after Ian Happ had extended struggles at the plate. Entering play on Saturday, Hoerner had a 130 wRC+ in his last 79 plate appearances, then added two singles on the evening.
'Both guys are swinging the bat really well in those situations,' Counsell said. 'Ian was struggling, so you're trying to get Ian a different look at the game, essentially, and try to get him going. We write our lineups one day at a time — always can change 'em. But for now, I think for this weekend, that's what you'll see.'
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There's been plenty of talk that Shaw may lose his job at third base if the Cubs can find an upgrade at the trade deadline, but for now, he will still get time at third. He didn't start in New York last weekend and again was out of the lineup on Saturday.
But he came in to pinch-hit in the seventh and slugged one of the Cubs' five home runs on the day. In his next at-bat, he hit a sharp single to right field. This after going 1-for-3 on Friday with a couple of well-struck outs mixed in.
buh bye. pic.twitter.com/BdLyd1Fs8g
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) July 20, 2025
'He's had two really nice days at the plate after the All-Star break,' Counsell said. 'And that's huge. Get a player going, get confidence as much as anything.'
Shaw said the mental break was helpful.
'That was awesome,' the rookie said after Saturday's win. 'Being able to reset is huge. I feel like the break was really a nice time to relax, take a deep breath and reset a little bit. Kind of look at myself and my motivations for this year. It was really nice. I feel really ready being back.'
Keller had been one of the best relievers for this team in the first half, but he hit a speed bump as the break approached. In seven outings before the break, he struck out just 11.8 percent of the batters he faced and had a 10.50 ERA.
But he pitched in the eighth on Friday and Saturday and worked two perfect innings, striking out four of six batters he faced, including all three on Saturday.
'Stuff-wise, he was really good. But look, he made a couple mistake pitches,' Counsell said of Keller's performance before the break. 'When you do that in leverage, it tends to show up a little more. But his stuff hasn't changed. It's been very good. To put up two zeroes after the break in some nice spots, he's back on track.'
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Keller said he wasn't happy with his slider, as it was coming out of his hand as a non-competitive pitch for a couple of weeks before the break. He used his time off to go to Atlanta and spend some time at Maven Baseball Lab.
'I was trying to throw it from (behind my ear),' Keller said. 'A lot of times when I do that, I tend to try and create movement with my body. That's what I was trying to do, so we just tried to slow things down. We worked on different cues for it and found good starting points for a strike and good ones for a putaway sweeper.'
On Saturday, the movement was much more like it was at the beginning of the season. So were the results.
The Cubs have come out of the gates in the second half looking ready to build on the momentum they had in the first three-plus months of the season. Their two MVP candidates, Kyle Tucker and Pete Crow-Armstrong, homered on Saturday. The depth in the lineup showed up on both Friday and Saturday as Busch and Seiya Suzuki each got the scoring started by sending balls into the seats. Their ace has returned to the mound and looks dominant. Their bullpen continues to shine.
There is so much to be optimistic about with this team. But they know their work is only beginning.
'We're a pretty good team,' Busch said. 'But the past is the past. We gotta keep going. Won a series today but there's still a chance to win a game tomorrow. That's the mindset going forward.'
(Photo of Michael Busch: Griffin Quinn / Getty Images)
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