Card Of The Week September 8

Last week Shota Imanaga became the first pitcher ever to throw no-hitters in both MLB and NPB - kind of.  He threw seven no-hit innings against the Pirates last Wednesday and two members of the Cubs bullpen - Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge - kept Pittsburgh hitless for the remaining two innings so it was a combined no-hitter.  Imanaga had previously no-hit the Fighters in 2022 while still pitching for the Baystars in Japan.  

No pitcher has ever thrown a full nine inning no-hitter in both leagues - Hideo Nomo and Hisashi Iwakuma have thrown no-hitters in MLB but not NPB.  Kenta Maeda has come the closest - he threw a no-hitter in Japan in 2012 and took a one into the ninth against the Brewers while pitching for the Twins in 2020 before giving up a hit.  Kodai Senga and Yoshinobu Yamamoto are the other two active MLB pitchers ("active" being a somewhat loose term at the moment) who have thrown no-hitters in NPB.

Here's a card commemorating Imanaga's NPB no-hitter from the 2022 BBM Fusion set (#52):