With six more scoreless innings to earn the win Wednesday night in Atlanta, Javier Assad pushed his record to 4-0 and lowered his ERA to 1.49 on the season. He also became the first Cubs pitcher since 1968 to begin the year with two earned runs or less in each of his first nine starts. Shu014dta Imanaga leads all qualified pitchers with a 0.96 ERA and has a chance to match Assad’s streak on Saturday against the Pirates.
But while the former NPB standout has received high praise for his dominance thus far, Assad’s hype has been largely contained to Cubs Twitter rallying behind The Assman.