On Monday, the Houston Astros introduced their newest pitcher, Tatsuya Imai. The Japanese star received a warm welcome from the Houston media at his introductory press conference, and Imai seems ready to get to work, saying, “What’s up, H-Town? I’m ready to chase a world championship. Let’s go, Houston. Thank you so much.”
Imai is expected to join the Astros rotation during the upcoming season, but rather than being joined by four other starting pitchers, it sounds like manager Joe Espada plans deploy a six-man rotation; at least at the outset of the 2026 season.