The Astros Sign Tatsuya Imai Out Of Nowhere

Imai is 27 years old and is heralded as a star-level pitcher; his two best pitches are his fastball and slider. That’s not the only thing he possesses, as he also has a changeup, splitter, curveball, and vulcan changeup in his repertoire. Imai is also coming off a 1.92 ERA season in which he struck out 28% of batters faced in 163.2 innings in the Nippon Professional Baseball League across 24 games.

Imai had also mentioned that, unlike other Japanese players, he wanted to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers instead of joining them. Astros fans should already love his energy right off the bat.

Chandler Rome of the Athletic also mentioned that Imai’s agent, Scott Boras, admired how much success Houston had with fellow Japanese pitcher Yusei Kikuchi. This is exactly why relationships matter, as Kikuchi was only with the Astros for two months in 2024 after being dealt by the Toronto Blue Jays, and it made this much of an impact. After his 10 starts in Houston, he was able to sign a three-year $63 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels. It’s really hysterical that both Imai and Kikuchi got pretty much identical contracts, and who knows if that was the plan in terms of comparisons in negotiations.

Adding Imai is a much-needed jolt for the Astros, who desperately needed pitching outside of Hunter Brown, and they still probably need an additional starter as well. Brown broke out with a 2.43 ERA, 28.3% strikeout rate, and a third-place AL Cy Young voting finish this past season.

According to roster resource, the rest of Houston’s projected rotation includes Cristian Javier, Lance McCullers Jr, and Mike Burrows. Javier has all the talent in the world, McCullers is extremely injury-prone and has seen his play tail off considerably, and Burrows should be a fine addition from the Pittsburgh Pirates. Spencer Arrighetti would be an intriguing option for the Astros, but he struggled in 2025 after showing flashes in 2024.

The elephant in the room here is former Houston ace Framber Valdez, who is seeking a long-term contract, but it doesn’t seem as if anyone’s budging at this very moment. The Astros usually aren’t the team to hand out long-term contracts with their owner, Jim Crane, as they’ve let countless people walk or traded them away during their last year. It still seems unlikely that Valdez makes his return, as at worst, he’ll sign a shorter-term contract for a high Average Annual Value with someone else.

The End Of My Tatsuya Imai Rant

This was an excellent signing for both Houston and Imai, as he’ll be getting paid $21.3 million annually if he hits all his incentives. This isn’t much nowadays for a good either three or four starter. They needed pitching in the worst way, and he’s getting paid a good chunk of change annually while getting acclimated to the major leagues.

Overall, the Astros are the most obvious bounce-back team as long as they don’t remain complacent and still look to either sign or trade for another starting pitcher. They missed the postseason for the first time since 2016 as they lost the tiebreaker against the Detroit Tigers, who had an identical 87-75 record in 2025.

The American League West division should be an absolute treat in 2026 with the Astros, Seattle Mariners, Sacramento Athletics, Texas Rangers, and Los Angeles Angels duking it out.

Houston is still missing a number two starter behind Brown, and you don’t want to basically force Imai into that role already. Who’s to say that he won’t struggle early on adjusting to the majors? I like Javier a lot, but he’s also dealt with his fair share of injuries, and you would love him a lot more as either your third or fourth starter. Nobody else on their current pitching staff really makes sense in that role either, so they have to get creative.

On the lineup side of things, the Astros really need Yordan Alvarez to stay healthy in 2026, as they have a formidable lineup with Jeremy Pena, Isaac Paredes, Jose Altuve, and Carlos Correa. Houston is also hoping for a couple of guys like Christian Walker, Yainer Diaz, and Jesus Sanchez to bounce back while continuing to develop Cam Smith in the majors as well.

All in all, this is a low-risk, high-reward type of signing that any team in the league could’ve made that desperately needed pitching. The Astros took full advantage of that by agreeing to terms with Imai.