MLB loves its power rankings.
Every week, they run a teams edition in which they cover the hottest and most talented squads in baseball.
But they also like to rank pitchers, or starters to be more specific.
The starting pitching landscape is constantly changing due to injuries and the hurlers’ effectiveness in a given week, so it’s a worthwhile exercise.
In the most recent edition, a Chicago Cubs southpaw took over the top spot.
If you have watched some baseball this year, you probably don’t need us to tell you his name.
We will, anyway: it’s Shota Imanaga.
“Shota Imanaga’s league-leading 0.84 ERA has launched him into the No. 1 spot!” MLB tweeted.
Shota Imanaga’s league-leading 0.84 ERA has launched him into the No. 1 spot!
This one seems logical: the pitcher with the best ERA in the league should be the number one on the power rankings by virtue of his run-prevention skills.
Starters are there to prevent runs from scoring, and that’s where Imanaga shines.
Yes, he strikes people out, too (58 in 53.2 innings), but it’s the run-prevention prowess that impresses the most.
Imanaga has elite command and strikeout numbers without an upper-90s fastball, which makes what he is doing even more surprising.
Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers appears in second place of the list, and two members of the Philadelphia Phillies are third and fourth: Ranger Suarez and Zack Wheeler.
Tyler Glasnow of the Los Angeles Dodgers completes the top five.
Fans, of course, argued about the list in the replies section, as some names were left out of the top ten: Yu Darvish and Luis Gil were among the most frequently mentioned.
The one thing that nobody disputes is that Imanaga belongs at the top.