CHICAGO — Shota Imanaga continues to inch closer to a return to the Cubs’ rotation.

The left-hander pitched four innings for the Cubs’ Arizona Complex League team on Saturday, tossing four scoreless innings with four strikeouts and three hits on 44 pitches. After the outing, he went back to the bullpen to throw to ramp up his pitch count to 55.

“He’s going to throw a bullpen in Arizona and then he’s going to make a start with Iowa next Friday,” Cubs bench coach Ryan Flaherty – who was made available pregame on Sunday – said.

That rehab outing with Iowa will be a big one for Imanaga and the Cubs. He’s likely to increase his workload and, if all goes well, could return to the Cubs rotation for his next start. That would put a potential return before the end of the month.

Of course, that’s jumping ahead a bit. He still has to pitch on Friday and come out of the outing feeling OK.

His return would be a massive boon to the Cubs’ rotation. They’ve been without him since May 5, when he landed on the injured list with a left hamstring strain. He had a 2.82 ERA across 44.2 innings before the injury.

That injury compounded the Cubs’ rotation woes. They were already down Justin Steele, who had undergone season-ending elbow surgery earlier in the year. The Cubs rotation has posted a 4.32 ERA since May 5, the 19th-best mark in baseball. They’ve been buoyed by veterans Jameson Taillon (3.48 ERA, 0.98 WHIP in 14 starts) and Matthew Boyd (2.79 ERA, 1.17 WHIP in 14 starts), but Imanaga would be their undisputed ace.

Other updates

• Eli Morgan (right elbow impingement) threw 15 pitches in a perfect fifth inning for the Arizona Complex League Cubs. He recorded two strikeouts in the frame. He had a 12.27 ERA in 7.1 innings before landing on the IL. The right-hander posted a 1.93 ERA in 32 games for Cleveland last season.
• Right-hander Tyson Miller cleared waivers and has rejoined Triple-A Iowa, per Tommy Birch of the Des Moines Register. He suffered a left hip impingement early in the season and didn’t appear in a major-league game this season. He was on a rehab assignment with the I-Cubs before being designated for assignment on June 5.

Featured photo courtesy of Rich Biesterfeld.