HOUSTON -- Astros starter Tatsuya Imai appeared to have struck out Seattle’s Randy Arozarena on a fastball at the top corner of the zone to start the fourth inning Tuesday night. The called third strike was challenged by Arozarena and overturned to a ball via ABS, having missed the strike zone by less than one-tenth of an inch.
That razor-thin margin was the beginning of the end for Imai, who plunked Arozarena with the next pitch, hit Luke Raley seven pitches later and walked J.P. Crawford to load the bases. Not even a mound visit from pitching coach Josh Miller could save Imai, who gave up a grand slam to Dominic Canzone on the next pitch as the Mariners tagged him for six runs in Houston’s 10-2 loss at Daikin Park.
“That was a turning point in the game,” Astros manager Joe Espada said of the overturned call.
With a 9.24 ERA in 12 2/3 innings across his first four starts in the Major Leagues, the Astros are left with a dilemma: How should they handle Imai the rest of the season? His much-ballyhooed signing in January for three years and $54 million was the Astros’ first foray into the Japanese market, but they don’t have many other options than to continue to pitch him.
“He’s going to make his next start,” Espada said.
Imai, working with only two pitches -- he threw 50 four-seam fastballs and 30 sliders -- lasted only four innings in his return from the injured list, where he sat for a month after coming down with arm fatigue. He threw 46 strikes (57.5 percent, which was his second-highest in four starts), but he walked three, hit two and gave up homers to Arozarena and Canzone. Ten of the 13 balls in play against him were hit 95 mph or harder.
“Of course, they won the division last year, and they have a lot of hitters that can hit a lot of hard hits,” Imai said through an interpreter. “I think that it’s just to the point their ability was higher.”
Espada said the team had simplified the game plan for Imai, having him focus on throwing strikes and not worrying as much about opposing hitters’ strengths. Imai said he leaned heavily on his fastball and slider in Japan and planned to make those the focus of his approach Tuesday, though his slider wasn’t as effective.
“We wanted him to pound the zone with two pitches that he can command and control,” Espada said. “There were opportunities against some of those lefties, some windows, he could have used split-finger and changeup.”
The Astros needed Imai to provide quality innings, considering the financial commitment and the fact that fellow starters Hunter Brown and Cristian Javier landed on the injured list in early April -- and still remain there. Houston has been scrambling for consistent starting pitching all season, though Peter Lambert, Mike Burrows and Spencer Arrighetti have helped stabilize the rotation in recent weeks.
Imai was placed on the injured list with arm fatigue shortly after his April 10 start in Seattle, in which he recorded one out and gave up three runs and four walks. His control issues didn’t go away in his two Minor League rehab starts, where he walked eight batters in five innings, allowing six runs and seven hits.
He’s admitted to struggling to adjust to the Major Leagues, including the pitch timer, different mounds and different balls, though he looked comfortable on the mound in the spring.
“There’s a lot more thinking on the mound compared to Japan because there's a lot more change in the States and I have to adjust more,” Imai said. “I have to think more aggressive [about] throwing in the zone and trying to get an out.”
After a 1-2-3 first inning, Imai walked Cal Raleigh, who entered the game in an 0-for-36 slump, before Arozarena blasted a two-run homer to right. A double play and strikeout helped Imai pitch around two hits in the third before the wheels came off in the fourth.
For the Astros, it’s back to the drawing board with Imai.
“We have to work on this together and handle this together as a club,” Espada said. “We’ve all got to pick each other up. This is not only Imai or one individual -- this is a team. We all have to work on this together and figure things out. We've got to help him through this, the same way we have to help all these guys.”