15-Day IL
Injury Arm
Est. Return 5/11/2026
2026 Stats
W-L
1-0
ERA
7.27
WHIP
2.08
K
13
SV
0
Rest-of-Season Projections
2026 Fantasy Outlook
Imai is looking to become the latest in a growing group of Japanese starting pitchers to successfully make the jump from NPB to MLB. He had an outstanding 2025 season for the Saitama Seibu Lions, with career bests in both ERA (1.92) and WHIP (0.89). NPB is in a dead-ball era right now, with league-wide ERA dropping to 3.01 last year, so those figures are a little less dominant than they may seem, but they came with career bests in both K% (27.8%) and BB% (7.0%). That latter is particularly notable, as Imai struggled significantly with control early in his career and had never previously produced a BB% better than 9.8%. Imai is undersized at 5-foot-11, but he has decent fastball velocity (94.8 mph), a five-pitch mix and a deceptive, low-slot delivery. If the command gains stick around, he should be able to get big-league hitters out, though don't expect dominance on the same level as Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who had three straight seasons with an ERA south of 1.70 before making the leap. Read Past Outlooks
Signed a one-year, $18 million contract with the Astros in January of 2026. Contract includes $18.67 million player options for 2027 and 2028. Salaries for 2027 and 2028 escalate by $1 million with 80, 90 and 100 innings pitched in 2026 and 2027.
Next start will be in majors
Astros general manager Dana Brown said Tuesday that Imai (arm) will rejoin the rotation next week versus the Mariners, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.
Analysis
If Imai is kept on a schedule of five days of rest in between starts, he'll be in line to start Monday's series opener. He made his second rehab start Tuesday with Triple-A Sugar Land, allowing one run on one hit with a 3:5 K:BB over three innings. Imai, who is coming back from fatigue in his pitching arm, threw 63 pitches Tuesday, so he will not be ready for a full workload in his first start back with the big club.
If Imai is kept on a schedule of five days of rest in between starts, he'll be in line to start Monday's series opener. He made his second rehab start Tuesday with Triple-A Sugar Land, allowing one run on one hit with a 3:5 K:BB over three innings. Imai, who is coming back from fatigue in his pitching arm, threw 63 pitches Tuesday, so he will not be ready for a full workload in his first start back with the big club.
Pitching Stats
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2026 MLB Game Log
2026
Minor League Game Log
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Pitching Appearances Breakdown
Average Pitch Count
68
Last 10 Games
68
Last 5 Games
68
How many pitches does Tatsuya Imai generally throw?
1-10
11-20
21-30
31-40
41-50
51-60
61-70
71-80
81-90
91-100
101-110
111-120
121+
What part of the game does Tatsuya Imai generally pitch?
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
Extra
% Games Reaching Innings Threshold
% Games By Number of Innings Pitched
Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2024
-76%
BAA vs LHP
2026
-76%
BAA vs LHP
| BAA | K | BB | H | HR | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since 2024vs Left | .077 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 0 | |||
| Since 2024vs Right | .316 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 0 | |||
| 2026vs Left | .077 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 0 | |||
| 2026vs Right | .316 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 0 | |||
| 2025vs Left | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2025vs Right | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2024vs Left | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2024vs Right | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| More Splits→ | View More Split Stats | |||||||
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2024
-67%
ERA on Road
2026
-67%
ERA on Road
| ERA | WHIP | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since 2024Home | 13.50 | 2.63 | 2.2 | 13.5 | 13.5 | ||||
| Since 2024Away | 4.50 | 1.83 | 6.0 | 13.5 | 10.5 | ||||
| 2026Home | 13.50 | 2.63 | 2.2 | 13.5 | 13.5 | ||||
| 2026Away | 4.50 | 1.83 | 6.0 | 13.5 | 10.5 | ||||
| 2025Home | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2025Away | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2024Home | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2024Away | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| More Splits→ | View More Split Stats | ||||||||
Stat Review
How does Tatsuya Imai compare to other starting pitchers?
This section compares his stats with all starting pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 120 innings)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 120 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 120 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
K/BB
1.18K/9
13.5BB/9
11.4HR/9
0.0Fastball
94.8 mphERA
7.27WHIP
2.08BABIP
.380GB/FB
2.75Left On Base
61.1%Exit Velocity
80.5 mphBarrels/BBE
5.7%Spin Rate
2185 rpmBalls Hit 95+ MPH
28.6%Swinging Strike
11.2%Advanced Pitching Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Stats Vs Today's Lineup
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More Fantasy News
Rehab moving to Triple-A
Imai (arm) will make his next rehab appearance Tuesday or Wednesday with Triple-A Sugar Land, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.
Analysis
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Expected to log another rehab start
Imai (arm) will make another start during his minor-league rehab assignment in the coming week, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.
Analysis
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Struggles in first rehab start
Imai (arm) was charged with five runs on six hits and three walks over two innings in his first rehab start with Double-A Corpus Christi on Tuesday.
Analysis
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Will begin rehab stint Tuesday
Imai (arm) is slated to begin a minor-league rehab assignment with Double-A Corpus Christi on Tuesday, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.
Analysis
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Nearing rehab assignment
Astros manager Joe Espada told reporters that Imai's (arm) bullpen session Friday "looked good," and that the right-hander's next step is to embark on a rehab assignment, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.
Analysis
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Injury concern after Friday's start
Brian McTaggart of MLB.com relays that Imai travelled back to Houston on Saturday and could be dealing with an injury.
Analysis
Imai recorded just one out against the Mariners on Friday, when he allowed three runs on one hit, four walks and a hit batsman. He may have picked up an injury in the process, which McTaggart believes is why Imai went back to Houston to undergo tests by medical staff, though the Astros have yet to make an official announcement. Imai has tossed just 8.2 innings across his first three major-league starts, allowing seven runs on seven hits and 11 walks while striking out 13 batters in that span.
Imai recorded just one out against the Mariners on Friday, when he allowed three runs on one hit, four walks and a hit batsman. He may have picked up an injury in the process, which McTaggart believes is why Imai went back to Houston to undergo tests by medical staff, though the Astros have yet to make an official announcement. Imai has tossed just 8.2 innings across his first three major-league starts, allowing seven runs on seven hits and 11 walks while striking out 13 batters in that span.