HOUSTON -- Japanese pitcher Tatsuya Imai immersed himself in Texas culture right away, taking in a game between the NFL’s Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts on Sunday and throwing up the team’s “H” hand sign when he was shown on the big screen. A few hours later, he ate lamb chops for the first time at a restaurant owned by Astros owner Jim Crane.
“It was definitely an adventure, but I still loved it,” Imai said.
Imai’s first impressions of his new city and his new team have been positive and have the Astros believing he is the missing piece that can get them back into the playoffs. He was introduced to the media Monday at Daikin Park after signing a three-year, $54 million contract that includes two opt-outs.
“What’s up, H-Town?” Imai said in English, reading off a piece of paper. “I’m ready to chase a world championship. Let’s go, Houston. Thank you so much.”
Tatsuya can earn $3 million in incentives if he throws 100 innings in 2026, according to MLB.com's Mark Feinsand. If he does, Imai's base salary becomes $21 million in '27 and '28. He had longer-term deals with lower AAVs on the table, though he chose to go to Houston on the shorter-term, higher-AAV deal with opt-outs.
The deal marks the first free agent the Astros have signed from Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league. He was posted by the Saitama Seibu Lions on Nov. 19, opening MLB teams' 45-day window to negotiate a contract with him. The Astros expressed interest through his agent, Scott Boras, at the GM Meetings in November.
“We had goals to sign starting pitching this offseason, and we also had goals to get into the Japan market and get in the baseball market over there in Japan,” Astros general manager Dana Brown said. “It was exciting because we had the support of Jim Crane, who’s backing us all the time. We’re excited to have [Imai] here, to be a part of this organization.”
Imai, 27, was a three-time All-Star in NPB, including in 2024 and ’25. He has emerged as an ace-level pitcher in Japan over the past several years -- he's posted an ERA under 3 and struck out more than a batter per inning in each of the past three seasons. But the ’25 season was arguably the best of his career. Imai went 10-5 with a career-best 1.92 ERA and 178 strikeouts in 163 2/3 innings and pitched in a combined no-hitter for the Lions.
If it wasn't 2025, it was ’24, when Imai went 10-8 with a 2.34 ERA and set career highs with 187 strikeouts and 173 1/3 innings pitched.
Imai is the fourth starting pitcher acquired by the Astros this offseason, but he figures to be a front-line starter in Houston’s rotation behind ace Hunter Brown. Overall, in his eight seasons with the Lions, Imai had a 58-45 record, 3.15 ERA and 907 strikeouts in 963 2/3 innings pitched. Since 2023, his ERA is just 2.18, and he's averaged 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings.
Imai said he had a few sleepless nights while waiting to find out where he would pitch this season.
“I had the privilege to have a couple of other offers as well on the table, but at the end of the day, I truly believe that here in Houston, with the Astros, I might be able to seriously take a shot at the World Series and make a run,” he said. “I thought that this would be the best fit for myself."
Imai's two main pitches are his four-seam fastball and slider. His four-seamer averaged 94.9 mph in 2025 -- slightly above the average for an MLB right-handed starter (94.6 mph) -- and it can reach the upper 90s. His slider averaged 86.2 mph and generated a 46 percent swing-and-miss rate.
Imai also throws a good changeup, mainly against lefties, which averaged 85.5 mph in 2025 with a 41 percent swing-and-miss rate. He mixes in a splitter and curveball as well, and added a new "Vulcan" changeup with a wider grip during the 2025 season.
“We like his rhythm and timing, and I think it allowed him to manipulate the ball and get the ball to move a lot in the strike zone, which I think is going to be very beneficial to him as a pitcher, and I think he'll give a lot of hitters fits,” Brown said. “We like a lot about him.”
Imai was one of several high-profile Japanese players to be posted this offseason, including superstar sluggers Munetaka Murakami and Kazuma Okamoto. Now Imai hopes to have the same kind of success as some of the other Japanese pitchers who’ve made the move to the U.S. in recent years.
“Ever since I started playing baseball in elementary school, I always felt I was a competitor and wanted to always come out on top, throw the ball the furthest, the fastest,” he said. “That’s really the mentality that stuck with me throughout my career with the Seibu Lions. That mentality of ‘must win’ and ‘compete’ and ‘do my best,’ that mentality I feel like has stuck with me ever since elementary school.”