Astros Ice Box

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Tatsuya Imai didn’t ease into his first live batting practice as a member of the Houston Astros. He attacked it.

The Japanese right-hander, who signed with Houston earlier this offseason, faced major league hitters Friday afternoon, including nine-time All-Star José Altuve and veteran Carlos Correa, with general manager Dana Brown, teammates, and a large contingent of Japanese media watching closely.

Imai admitted he felt nervous beforehand. It didn’t show.

He retired all five hitters he faced on 17 pitches, striking out three.

“As soon as I started facing José, I was like, ‘Oh shoot, I’m actually in the big leagues,’” Imai said afterward.

Immediate Impact

Imai opened by getting Nick Allen to ground out on three pitches. He then faced Altuve, drawing a swing-and-miss on the first pitch before inducing a groundout.

Correa, Jake Meyers, and Taylor Trammell followed—all strikeouts.

“Really good,” Altuve said. “He threw me a slider that you couldn’t really see the spin. Nice and sharp. And then after that, a fastball. I saw two pitches. So, yeah, very good. Obviously, two pitches is not enough. I wish I could get more. But the first impression is really good. He’s going to help this team a lot.”

The Arsenal

Pitching coach Josh Miller liked what he saw: strikes, fastball velocity in the low-to-mid 90s, and multiple weapons.

Imai threw every pitch in his repertoire except the curveball. His “wrong way” slider—a pitch with unusual movement that doesn’t break traditionally—drew particular attention.

“It has a natural shape that backs up, doesn’t go left, even though it might have the spin that looks to a hitter like it will,” Miller said. “There were some weird swings against it, some foul balls where the ball got in on the hands a little bit. Where sliders will typically go down, away, it didn’t really do that. Just a unique pitch.”

Then there was the splitter.

Trammell, who has played 24 years of baseball, including 11 professionally, didn’t mince words.

“Be honest with you, I played this game for 24 years now and 11 professionally, and I’ve never seen a pitch like that before in my life,” Trammell said.

Correa compared the deception to Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

“It comes out hard, and when it’s time to make a decision, it just drops down,” Correa said. “[Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu] Yamamoto has the same thing, where he throws a fastball down and tries to make you chase the split. He can do special things like that, also.”

A Quick Study

After the session, Trammell and Imai talked through what each saw. Imai specifically asked about pitch tunneling, whether his offerings looked similar out of his hand before breaking differently.

“The ball when he’s coming downhill, he releases it in his hand, and it’s almost like a snap,” Trammell said. “Everything was lively. I thought all of his pitches I saw for the most part. The fastball is very hoppy. It’s got a little bit of run to it. And then, I mean, we saw that splitter.”

Miller has not yet conducted a formal meeting with Imai about goals and approach, but that conversation is coming soon. The next step could be another live BP session or a jump into Grapefruit League action.

Either way, the audience is likely to grow.

“He did say that he was a little nervous,” Miller said. “He’s been out watching the guys throw live the last few days to kind of see how it went. I think it made him a little more comfortable. It seemed like he was at ease on the mound, looked natural. Whatever nerves he had were kind of erased in the bullpen. He did well.”

For a rotation looking to replace Framber Valdez’s innings and stabilize behind a mix of youth and uncertainty, Friday’s 17 pitches were more than a small-sample showcase.

They were a statement.

If this is what nervous Tatsuya Imai looks like, the Astros may have found something special.

Photo by えすぱにぃ, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.