Astros' Tatsuya Imai makes small change, finds more velocity in another impressive spring start

JUPITER, Fla. — For Tatsuya Imai, making the transition from NPB in Japan to Major League Baseball is about more than just getting used to new hitters and customs. There are even more pertinent differences, including the baseball, which is less tacky and harder to control in the United States, and the mound, which offers a steeper slope.

After two spring training starts that already had gone well, the Houston Astros' pitcher made a change to counteract some of those contrasts and saw immediate results.

Imai, who entered Wednesday's start with three shutout innings under his belt in his previous two Grapefruit League appearances, shifted his setup to the far right side of the rubber for start No. 3 and threw three perfect innings in a 4-1 win over the Miami Marlins on Wednesday at Roger Dean Stadium.

Imai, who struck out four of the nine hitters he faced, pointed to the small change as the reason he was able to hit 98.5 mph with his four-seam fastball after previously not throwing anything harder than 96.5 mph this spring. 

“(The change) allowed me to use my strength optimally and very efficiently,” Imai said through an interpreter. “That allowed me to throw really hard.”

Imai explained that he’d been experimenting with the move even back in Japan and throughout the spring.

“There has been trials and errors, just seeing the height of the mound and how steep the mound is, which is a little different from what I’ve been used to in Japan,” he explained. “The season is just around the corner, so I knew I needed to make a change on how I pitch.”

The Astros are known for the tweaks they make when pitchers join the organization, and Joe Espada said things are no different with the 27-year-old right-hander, who signed a three-year, $63 million deal with Houston after pitching eight seasons for the Seibu Lions.

“There are always suggestions for us to make but I think he’s got a pretty good idea of what he wants to do,” the Astros manager said. “He knows himself really well.”

In his last outing, also against the Marlins, Imai mentioned that he was having trouble letting his fastball go because he was still getting used to the slickness of the baseball. He didn’t have a problem with it Wednesday, throwing it on 18 of his 35 pitches and averaging 96.7 mph with it. His fastball averaged 94.9 in his previous outing and got over 96 mph just twice.

“Yeah, it was the best one yet,” Imai said. “Just being able to throw my fastball the way I want to.

Besides the fastball, Imai also employs a slider and splitter. He threw the slider 14 times, invoking eight swings with four whiffs. He threw the splitter just three times. The Marlins only had one hard-hit ball, a lineout that left the bat at 98.8 mph by their first hitter of the game. No one else made contact at more than 90 mph against Imai.

“It looked like he sees the end of spring coming, and he’s getting ready for the season,” Espada said. “Just overpowering stuff.”

A perfect three innings against anyone would seem like an easy confidence-booster, Imai takes a more philosophical approach towards what makes him feel good about a start.

“I don’t really associate my outing in how well I did with confidence level,” Imai said. “It comes more from whether or not I was able to pitch ideally the way I want to or whether the way I come set is up to par to what I would like to do.”

Imai has pitched so well, there’s been some thought that perhaps Team Japan would try to add him to its World Baseball Classic roster, especially with Japan playing all of its knockout games beginning this weekend at Miami’s LoanDepot Park, just about 70 miles south of the Astros' spring training home in West Palm Beach. When asked about it after his latest start, Imai said he hadn’t had any conversations about it.

“I think they’re going to be able to win no matter what,” he said. “They don’t need me.”