WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Japanese right-hander Tatsuya Imai threw a 10-pitch scoreless inning and was struck by a comebacker in his spring training debut for the Houston Astros on Thursday against the New York Mets.
Imai allowed a leadoff single to Marcus Semien, whose sharp hit ricocheted off the pitcher’s lower right leg and went into foul territory. Imai was checked by an athletic trainer and stayed in the game.
“That was not what we wanted to to see. But, you know, he came back and got out of that inning, 10 pitches, up to 95 (mph),” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “He looked really good out there.”
Imai finished what he said was his one scheduled inning by getting Mike Tauchman on an infield popout before Bo Bichette grounded into a double play.
“It was fun just being able to face hitters from a different organization,” Imai said through a translator.
The 27-year Imai was a three-time All-Star in Japan before agreeing in January to a $54 million, three-year contract with the Astros. Houston lost Framber Valdez when he left as a free agent and signed with Detroit.
Eight of Imai’s 10 pitches were strikes, and he threw only sinkers and changeups. All three balls put into play, none out of the infield, came on changeups, and the Astros didn’t send him back out for another inning.
“He was efficient enough where we thought about it, but thought that was enough there, especially with getting hit in the leg,” Espada said, adding, “He’s going to be sore tomorrow, that’s for sure.”
Imai had 0-2 counts on Semien and Tauchman. Bichette’s inning-ending grounder to third base came on the first pitch, an 87 mph changeup.
“With the different baseball in the big leagues, I’ve been working on kind of being able to throw all of my pitches in a zone,” Imai said. “That being said, I was kind of too much focused on throwing in the zone as opposed to executing certain pitches. So yeah, that’s something I will definitely keep working on.”
Imai was 10-5 with a 1.92 ERA last season for the Pacific League’s Seibu Lions, striking out 178 in 163 2/3 innings. He was 58-45 with a 3.15 ERA in eight seasons with Seibu.
His contract with the Astros included a $2 million signing bonus and salaries of $16 million this year and $18 million in each of the next two seasons. Based on his 2026 performance, his 2027 salary would escalate by $2 million each for 80, 90 and 100 innings, and his 2028 salary by $1 million for each level. He can opt out after the 2026 and 2027 seasons.
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