Shota Imanaga's velocity in first start of spring promising for Cubs

MESA, Ariz. — Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga had been joking he wanted to get his fastball velocity up to 97 mph.

‘‘We’ll take, like, 94, 95,’’ pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said at the beginning of spring training. ‘‘That’d be great.’’

In his first spring start Tuesday, Imanaga already was averaging 93 mph, according to Statcast. And pitchers’ velocities generally increase through the spring.

‘‘I want to preface by saying, for me, velo isn’t everything,’’ Imanaga said through an interpreter. ‘‘But having velocity obviously is an advantage. Today, [I] felt like the velo was up. So just overall, my takeaway was that it was a good start.’’

Imanaga isn’t a power pitcher by any means, but he was slow to regain velocity last season after suffering a strained hamstring in May. His fastball averaged 90.8 mph in 2025, compared with 91.7 the year before.

It’s a subtle difference, but when Imanaga’s fastball velocity is up, it creates more separation from his splitter, which is his go-to secondary pitch.

‘‘I was really happy with how he left [last season],’’ manager Craig Counsell said, regardless of Imanaga’s struggles down the stretch and into the playoffs. ‘‘Very confident that he would put himself in a very good position, and he was ready to do that.’’

On Tuesday, Imanaga allowed three hits in 2‰ scoreless innings against the Padres. The hardest pitch he threw was a 94.1 mph heater on the outside corner to strike out infielder Sung-Mun Song swinging in the first inning.

Long still eyeing WBC

First baseman Jonathon Long moved his flight date to join Team Chinese Taipei from Tuesday to Friday, Counsell said. His recovery since spraining his left elbow in an in-game collision Saturday has been promising.

‘‘He’s doing much better,’’ Counsell said. ‘‘No issue with X-rays or anything like that. The soreness is dissipating. Still a little residual soreness, but it’s the kind that’s improving every day.’’

Long took swings Tuesday, Counsell said, and he’ll ramp up his activity in the next couple of days.

‘‘He doesn’t really want to get on a plane and have some question about his availability,’’ Counsell said. ‘‘He’s trending well.’’

Conforto in camp

Outfielder Michael Conforto joined the team workout Tuesday, running through defensive drills on the back fields with a couple of new teammates before taking batting practice.

The Cubs declined to make him available to the media because his minor-league deal wasn’t official yet, but he sat down with Counsell earlier in the day.

‘‘I thought Michael laid it out really well, where he’s at,’’ Counsell said. ‘‘He’s in a good place. You learn from all your experiences, [and it] puts you in a good place. You have uncertainty when you come to camp on a non-roster deal, and I think he’s in a position to use that uncertainty in a really good way.’’

Counsell said he expects to get Conforto into the lineup Sunday, giving him four days of camp to build up.