As the Astros prepare for tonight’s game against the Mariners, Tatsuya Imai he left Seattle and returned to Houston to be examined by team doctors. MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart reported earlier today that Imai was headed to Houston, and The Athletic’s Chandler Rome added that Imai is facing “a tired arm,” in the words of a group source.
More will be known once the Astros’ internal medical staff takes a look at Imai, and it’s possible the righty is dealing with more than normal fatigue. Some adjustment time was almost inevitable for Imai in his first season in the majors, first and foremost because he is playing a little more quietly than usual. Starters in Nippon Professional Baseball usually start once a week, unlike the five-day schedule of MLB clubs. Imai wasn’t even on a five-day schedule, as he had five full days off between starts.
That said, Imai’s 7.27 ERA over his first 8 2/3 Major League innings is a sign that something is wrong. Ironically, his only good start came in the right-hitter at Sutter Health Park, as Imai threw 5 2/3 shutout innings against the Athletics on April 4. That impressive outing was sandwiched between two duds — Imai allowed four runs over 2 2/3 innings against the Angels on March 29, and last night’s third inning against the Mariners only three. Imai retired one of the seven Seattle batters he faced, as he hit a batter, allowed one hit, and issued four walks.
Imai told reporters (through an interpreter) after the game that he was concerned about the cool weather in Seattle and the hard mound at T-Mobile Park. McTaggart notes that Imai also expressed his problems adjusting to the mounds of Major League and MLB baseball. Also, the adjustment period is not uncommon for pitchers coming from NPB for the first time, although “a tired arm” feature now adds fear of injury to Imai’s condition.
Imai signed a three-year, $54MM deal with the Astros last offseason, and he can opt out after each of his first seasons. The contract came down under a lot of speculation, as it appeared that several teams had concerns about Imai’s ability to translate his NPB success to MLB. So Imai and his agent Scott Boras got a short-term deal that still locked in quick cash for the right-hander, and allowed him to be free to hit the market next winter if he played well in his first season in the Showcase.
Losing Imai to the injured list would be another big blow to Houston’s already dysfunctional rotation. Just last week, Hunter Brown again Cristian Javier both were placed on the 15-day IL due to Grade 2 shoulder problems. The plan for both pitchers is a retest after two weeks and a standard shutdown period of at least three weeks, though the timelines are still fluid. Even at best, Brown and Javier won’t be back until May, leaving the Astros scrambling to start even before Imai’s condition comes up.
The Astros rotation currently consists of Imai, Mike Burrowsagain Lance McCullers Jr. Cody Bolton it has already made one place to begin with and may be pressed into further rotation work. JP France, Ryan Weiss, AJ Blubaughagain Jason Alexander some rookies are already in the big league bullpen or in Triple-A, and the Astros could use any of these pitchers or more pitchers in a piggyback capacity instead of a regular starting spot. Houston won’t have time to reset the rotation until the offseason on April 23, as Friday’s game was the first of the club’s 13-game home stretch.
