The Chicago Cubs are hosting the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday, with first pitch set for 7:40 p.m. ET/6:40 p.m. CT. Shota Imanaga will take the bump for the Cubs, facing off against Phillies lefty Jesús Luzardo at Wrigley Field. Looking at the odds, lines and Imanaga’s strikeouts prop on DraftKings Sportsbook, here is a breakdown of how the southpaw could perform in his fifth outing of the season. And since I am 14-for-18 on individual strikeout props so far in the 2026 regular season, I feel pretty good about this bet hitting too.
Shota Imanaga Strikeouts Prop
DraftKings Sportsbook currently has Imanaga’s strikeouts thrown line set at 6.5 for Tuesday’s contest against the Phillies.
Through four starts this season, Imanaga is 1-1 with a 2.45 ERA, 0.773 WHIP, 12.7 strikeouts per nine innings and a 0.5 WAR. He has pitched into the sixth inning every time he has taken the mound this year, entering Tuesday’s game fresh off back-to-back quality starts. Imanaga’s last outing actually came against the Phillies on April 15. He went 6.0 innings deep, allowing three hits, one walk and one earned run while racking up 11 strikeouts. Imanaga logged his highest Game Score of the season in his previous outing on April 10, thanks to his 6.0 scoreless, hitless frames versus the Pirates.
Imanaga is on pace for his most efficient campaign yet, although he did place fifth in NL Cy Young voting and fourth in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2024. And although his ERA climbed from 2.91 to 3.73 and strikeouts per nine innings went from 9.0 to 7.3 in 2025, the lefty managed to finish the year with a sub-1.000 WHIP.
Based on FanGraphs‘ Steamer model, Imanaga is projected to go 9-9 with a 3.90 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 146 strikeouts across 25 starts and 152.0 innings in the remainder of 2026. His 2.0 projected fWAR ranks No. 71 among MLB starters, while his projected 8.16 strikeouts per nine innings rank No. 118.
Shota Imanaga picks, predictions
In three of his four starts so far this year, Imanaga has gone over 6.5 strikeouts. He failed to do so on April 5, finishing that game with four, but he has posted seven, nine and 11 in his other three appearances. That 75% hit rate is quite the jump up from his production in 2025, when he went 5-for-25 on clearing 6.5 punchouts. In 2024, he did so in 14 of his 29 starts, so 2025 may be the outlier here.
Philadelphia’s lineup is above-average when it comes to avoiding strikeouts, ranking No. 13 in MLB with 8.36 strikeouts per game. They also rank bottom-three in OPS+, however, so they don’t pose too much of a threat when it comes to chasing starters off the mound early. The Phillies offense has generated a total of six runs in their last five games, after all.
Imanaga is six days removed from notching 11 strikeouts on the road against the Phillies. He now gets to face that same lineup back in Chicago, where he averages 9.2 strikeouts per nine innings in his MLB career. Compare that to his 7.7 strikeouts per nine innings in road games, and the location factor should work in Imanaga’s favor. I like Imanaga to once again make it to the sixth inning and once again clear 6.5 strikeouts.
