Tatsuya

Imai

Imai’s return didn’t quite go so well. After a scoreless first inning, he gave up a two-run homer to Randy Arozarena in the second. He then stranded two runners in the third before loading the bases in the fourth with no outs on two hit batters and a walk. Dominic Canzone made him pay with a grand slam. Imai would finish out the inning and end his day at 80 pitches. The 28-year-old right-hander now holds a 9.24 ERA, 2.05 WHIP, and a 16/14 K/BB ratio across 12 2/3 innings. He’ll take on the Twins in Minnesota on Monday.

Imai will face the Mariners tonight in his first start since walking four and giving up three runs in one-third of an inning against the same ballclub on Apr. 10. He walked eight and gave up six runs over five innings in his two rehab starts, so he’s not to be trusted in fantasy leagues at the moment.

Imai has continued to struggle with his command during his minor league rehab assignment, so fantasy managers are going to want to take a wait-and-see approach here before considering deploying the 28-year-old right-hander in lineups. Imai registered a troublesome 7.27 ERA, 2.08 WHIP and a 13/11 K/BB ratio over 8 2/3 innings in his first three starts for the Astros before landing on the injured list.

Imai has really struggled with command during his rehab assignment, and recently made comments that he thinks the pitch clock in MLB could be the reason for his issues throwing strikes. Whatever the case may be, the right-hander has not shown enough in his early MLB starts to warrant being used in fantasy leagues right now. If you have him on the IL in a deeper format and want to hold him on your bench through this start, we understand, but we would not be looking to put him into our starting lineup.

Walks continue to be a problem for Imai as his grasp of the strike zone continues to be elusive, at best. He threw just 27 of 63 pitches for strikes and notched three strikeouts. It’s fair to say that even if he’s healthy, there’s no way the Astros can reasonably consider bringing him back to the majors in his present state.

Astros’ manager Joe Espada spoke to the 27-year-old hurler on Thursday and noted that he felt good coming out of his last rehab starts despite the poor results on the field. It sounds like we’re still probably at least a week away from Imai potentially rejoining the Astros’ rotation.

The Astros had been hopeful that he could be ready for a return next week, but he gave up five runs over two innings in his last start at Double-A Corpus Christi, so they’ll give him at least one more outing to get right. He’s a long way from being a mixed league option at the moment.

Imai struck out two and walked three batters, needing 59 pitches (31 strikes) to record six outs in his first rehab start. He gave up six hits, including a home run. The 27-year-old has been on the shelf with arm fatigue since mid-April. He’s also indicated that he’s struggling to adjust to life in the majors both on and off the field in his stateside debut. All indications from the Astros are that they are going to take it extremely slowly and not rush him back.

If all goes well with that outing, it’s possible that Imai could be cleared to rejoin an Astros’ rotation that has been absolutely decimated by injuries this season. Prior to landing on the injured list, he had posted a troublesome 7.27 ERA, 2.08 WHIP and a 13/11 K/BB ratio over 8 2/3 innings in his first three starts for the Astros.

Astros’ manager Joe Espada noted that Imai “looked good” during the session and that the next step for him will be to head out on a minor league rehab assignment. Given the current state of the Astros’ injury-ravaged rotation, Imai will assuredly have a spot waiting for him once he is healthy enough to contribute. If he has been dropped in any deeper mixed leagues, now wouldn’t be a bad time to stash him, as his upside is probably unmatched on the waiver wire currently.