The Houston Astros added Tatsuya Imai in free agency, but the Los Angeles Anges ruined his MLB debut today.
The Los Angeles Angels became the first team in baseball to face new Houston Astros pitcher Tatsuya Imai, and the Angels gave him a rude welcome to the big leagues in the US as his debut lasted for just 2-2/3 inning, courtesy of a three-run double by Angels right fielder Jorge Soler and a run-scoring single from outfielder Jo Adell.
The Astros staked Imai to a 4-0 lead in the second inning as they knocked around Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz, but Imai wasn’t up to the task of holding it. He struggled with his control early and often, and Imai ended up walking four while striking out the same number while giving up four runs in his brief outing.
As for the Angels, one thing we’re learning about this lineup in the first weekend is that they can hit, and hit with power. Center fielder Mike Trout has played in all four games, and he’s energized the lineup by constantly getting on base while contributing his first two home runs of year.
He’s got plenty of company in the power department. Soler’s double wasn’t far from being a grand slam with the short porch in Houston, and shortstop Zach Neto added to the Angels’ rapidly-growing homer club with a two-run shot that briefly gave the Halos a 6-4 lead.
Imai, meanwhile, clearly has some work to do. The Astros signed him to a three-year, $54 million deal, but he was signed well after some of the other bigger pitching names came off the board in the free agent market. He didn’t allow a run in spring training for Houston, so this kind of debut was definitely a surprise.
It also speaks to some of the issues scouts had when the evaluated Imai. His command was criticized, and Imai admitted in spring training that he was too focused on throwing strikes instead of executing pitches.
His secondary pitches were also considered sketchy, especially his curve ball, and he found out today in the worst way possible that big-league hitters will sit on a fastball/slider combination and figure things out quickly.
The Astros have had trouble keeping the Angels off the scoreboard for most of this opening series, and the reverse was true in both of the weekend games. The games haven’t been crisp, but if you like offense and home runs this was a fun series to watch, with both teams putting plenty of crooked numbers on the scoreboard as the Astros outlasted the Angels today, 9-7, to get a series split.