Yesterday, one of the most exciting additions to the Houston Astros made his Spring Training debut: Tatsuya Imai.
Imai started yesterday’s game against the New York Mets. He pitched one inning and didn’t allow a single run. He walked away from his first inning in Major League camp action having allowed just one hit.
It was a composed and efficient first showing.
Once Imai was signed, there was talk about how he would adjust to the major leagues. Based on this first inning, he seems to be adjusting just fine. It was only one inning, but he did exactly what was needed.
His live pitching session drew serious attention the other day as well. All eyes were locked in on Imai as he faced hitters for the first time since signing with Houston. What is usually a quiet session on a back mound turned into a headline-grabbing moment, with teammates and staff tracking every pitch.
Imai admitted he was nervous, and honestly, who wouldn’t be? After getting Nick Allen to ground out on three pitches, he looked up and saw José Altuve in the box. That is when the nerves probably really kicked in and the MLB reality set in as he faced the veteran All-Star and Astros favorite.
He wasted no time settling in. Imai got Altuve to swing and miss at his first pitch and then induced a groundout. He followed that by striking out Carlos Correa, Jake Meyers, and Taylor Trammell, throwing just 17 pitches to five hitters. He seemed to have carried that same energy, confidence, and poise into his Spring Training debut yesterday.
Aggressively pursuing Imai was a great choice when they signed him, and he continues to show why he was viewed as such a valuable addition to the team.
The Astros have many solid pitchers and young arms coming up, but they should feel very confident when Hunter Brown and Imai step up to the mound. Losing Framber Valdez stung, but these two starting pitchers look capable of taking on that responsibility.
Although this is just Spring Training, performance matters. Momentum matters. Even the best players can fall into a funk during the regular season that takes weeks to shake off. If these two young pitchers continue to perform well this spring, they can carry that confidence into the regular season when it truly counts.