The Chicago Cubs pitching staff wasn’t expected to be bad this year by any means, but they might not have been able to expect the amount of star power they may have.

As Bleacher Report’s Tim Kelly looked around the league for the best pitching duos, he landed on Chicago’s Justin Steele and Shota Imanaga as the ninth in the league.

Starting with Imanaga, he has been one of baseball’s most dominant pitchers through the first part of the year.

The 30-year-old rookie leads the league with an ERA of just 0.78 through his first six outings. It’s not by mistake, either, as he is top five in WHIP and top ten in FIP.

He only looks to be getting better, too, which spells great things for the future of the rotation.

Steele is the more established ace, but got injured after his first appearance in 2024. Still, the hype is there after his 2023 All-Star campaign.

The 28-year-old finished last season in the top ten for ERA, xERA, SIERA, FIP, BB/9 and HR/9 among other statistical categories.

It’s clear why the expectations for him were so high and will continue to be high once he gets back from injury.

Imanaga and Steele becoming an elite duo was seen as a best-case scenario when Chicago signed the two-time NPB All-Star. Now, it’s already becoming a reality.

The two should make the next few years of Cubs baseball pretty fun to watch.

The starting rotation has still been good as a whole, outside of Kyle Hendricks, which means getting back to full health will only make things more exciting.

Chicago’s starters currently rank seventh in the MLB in terms of ERA which has played a key role in their hot start to the season, currently sitting just one game behind Milwaukee and squarely in the Wild Card.