Tatsuya Imai Set to Return as Astros Activate Him Tomorrow
tatsuya imai is set to return tomorrow, with the Astros planning to activate him from the injured list before the second game of their four-game set against the Mariners. Houston will need to option a pitcher to clear room, and Imai is listed as the probable starter against Bryan Woo.
He comes back after a month away because of arm fatigue. That absence followed a difficult start to his first MLB run, and the Astros are still trying to see whether his next turn can look more like the pitcher they signed to a three-year free agent contract.
Imai’s first MLB stretch
Imai’s early numbers explain why Houston is choosing to keep sending him out there. In his first three MLB appearances, he walked 11 hitters over 8 2/3 innings and failed to complete three innings twice.
His two rehab starts did not fully clean that up. Over five rehab innings, he handed out eight more walks, a line that kept the command issue in the foreground even as he worked back from the injured list.
Houston’s rotation pressure
The Astros are making this move while juggling a battered pitching staff. Hunter Brown and Cristian Javier are out with shoulder injuries, Josh Hader has been absent all season, and Bennett Sousa went back on the injured list over the weekend with elbow inflammation.
That has pushed Spencer Arrighetti and Peter Lambert into depth roles, while Mike Burrows has steadied himself with three strong outings after a rocky start to the year. Houston will likely go back to a six-man rotation, keeping Imai in a spot where every start will be judged against the club’s need for innings as much as his own results.
Peña, Meyers, Hader
The injury picture is still moving around him. Nate Pearson has spent the season on the injured list after offseason elbow surgery, the Astros now view him as a reliever, and he averaged 96.4 mph on his four-seam fastball even after walking multiple hitters in each of his first three rehab appearances before a perfect inning for Triple-A Sugar Land on Saturday.
Jeremy Peña should begin a rehab assignment at Double-A Corpus Christi tomorrow, Jake Meyers is likely to start his own rehab stint this week, and Hader began a rehab assignment last week and could be back when first eligible on May 24. Houston dropped to a season-low 10 games below.500 in the loss that left it tied with the Angels for the worst record in the American League at 16-26, so Imai’s return lands at a time when the club needs his innings to hold up fast.
