Tatsuya Imai allowed six runs in four innings, pushing his ERA to 9.24 over 12 2/3 major league innings.
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HOUSTON — A mural on Texas Street heading toward Daikin Park shows Cy Young finalist Hunter Brown at the bottom, with Yordan Alvarez celebrating his famous World Series home run above him. Towering over both is Tatsuya Imai.
Imai didn’t ask for the spotlight, but his $18 million salary and his role as the team’s first major Japanese signing placed him there. No Astros starter earns more, and the franchise expected him to help open the Pacific Rim market while anchoring the middle of the rotation.
The weight is becoming clear with every outing. His brutal transition to major league baseball continued Tuesday in a divisional game the Astros desperately needed. When Imai faltered, it deflated the entire club: a patchwork lineup that managed two runs in three innings against Bryan Woo, a half-empty ballpark struggling to generate atmosphere, and an organization now facing a 10-2 loss with no easy answers.
“It’s not what I imagined for the results,” Imai said through interpreter Shio Enomoto. “But we’re in season. It’s my responsibility to get the results and get the outs and try my best with what I can do.”
Imai has made six professional starts this season—four in the majors, two in the minors—and imploded in four of them. Tuesday’s start saw him revert to a two-pitch pitcher, relying solely on a four-seam fastball and slider. He surrendered six runs, walked three, hit two batters, and retired only 38 of 65 hitters faced this season. Seventeen of the 27 batters who reached base either walked or were hit by a pitch.
Manager Joe Espada said Imai will keep his rotation spot, despite his struggles. The Astros have few alternatives, and Imai is owed $18 million. For a team sitting 11 games under .500 and fighting to save its season—along with the jobs of its manager and general manager—this is an almost untenable situation.
“We just have to get him right,” a frustrated Espada said. “That needs to be better.”
Imai returned from the 15-day injured list Tuesday, but not because he showed improvement during his rehab starts. He made two minor league appearances with a clean bill of health, yet showed little progress against Double-A and Triple-A lineups. After throwing three innings for Triple-A Sugar Land last week, Imai blamed differences in scouting approaches between Japan and MLB for his struggles. In Japan, he said, the focus is on a pitcher’s strengths; in MLB, opponents target weaknesses.
To simplify things, pitching coach Josh Miller and catcher Christian Vázquez eliminated the pregame scouting report for Tuesday’s start. “Red zones, blue zones, heat maps … nah, just go after them,” Espada said before the game.
Given full freedom, Imai stuck to what got him the contract: fastball and slider. He threw 80 pitches, all of those two types. “That’s what I did in Japan and that’s why the Astros signed me,” Imai said. “So that’s why I want to work on my fastball and slider.”
Seattle swung 38 times against the limited arsenal and whiffed nine times. Of the 13 balls in play, 10 were hit at 95 mph or harder, with an average exit velocity of 96.6 mph. The Mariners somehow only managed five hits in Imai’s four innings.
After the game, Espada acknowledged there were opportunities to use Imai’s split-finger or changeup, especially against Seattle’s six left-handed hitters. Imai’s inability to neutralize lefties has been a growing concern. The Mariners’ six lefties and switch-hitter Cal Raleigh reached base eight times, including three walks and two hit-by-pitches.
“We wanted to pound the zone with the two pitches he can command and control,” Espada said.
That statement sounds like one for a rookie, not for a high-priced starter expected to stabilize an injury-ravaged rotation. But Imai is both, and the Astros must confront that reality. Any lofty preseason expectations now seem overblown. His prominence on the mural and in advertisements feels misplaced, only adding pressure.
Team officials say they’ve tried everything to make Imai comfortable and ease his transition. Enomoto acknowledged the struggle. “We’re trying to create an environment where he feels comfortable and he can be himself,” Espada said before the game. “Just go out there, relax and have fun. That’s been our message.”
Whether Imai is absorbing that message is unclear. With four months of the regular season remaining, there is time for a turnaround, but the learning curve is steeper than the organization anticipated. Progress must be measured in small steps, not in dominant outings. Espada and Imai were encouraged that he threw 57.5% of his pitches for strikes on Tuesday, up from 54.2% in his first three starts. Twelve of Seattle’s 13 balls in play came on pitches inside the strike zone.
“They won the division last year, and they have a lot of hitters that can hit a lot of hard hits,” Imai said. “I think it’s just to the point that their ability was higher.”