DataBaseball
2026
Tatsuya Imai headshot

Pitcher · 2026

Tatsuya Imai

Age
28
B/T
R/R
Height
5' 11"
Weight
176 lb
Number
#45
Born
May 9, 1998 in Kanuma, Japan
MLB debut
March 29, 2026
dbWAR
.3
1 season(s)
IP
61.2
ERA
5.55
FIP
4.63
K/9
11.2
FIP−
111
100 = avg

Tatsuya Imai is a starting pitcher for the Houston Astros. In 2026 he struck out 77 batters over 61.2 innings across 16 appearances, 15 of them starts, going 6-4. His ERA of 5.55 was 32.8% higher than the league average of 4.18 — 13th of 17 on his team, and 400th of 467 among MLB pitchers with 20+ innings. Stripping out defence, his 4.63 FIP suggests he pitched better than his ERA shows. He missed bats on 32.6% of swings (14.2% of every pitch he threw), walked 14.6% of the batters he faced and struck out 28.1%. His 0.3 dbWAR is built from that FIP rather than runs allowed, so it credits him for what he controls and not for the defence behind him.

League context

Percentile among qualified pitchers, 2026.

FIP4.63
K/911.2
WHIP1.46
WAR.3

Platoon splits

How left- and right-handed hitters fare against him.

Opponent batting by the side the hitter bats from, 2026. Counted from play-by-play, so totals can differ from the box-score season line by a plate appearance or two.
SplitPAABHHRBBSOAVGOBPSLGwOBAK%
vs LHB1681433672245.252.351.441.35026.8%
vs RHB106841421832.167.333.250.28930.2%

Pitch sequencing

What Tatsuya Imai throws in each count, and what he follows each pitch with. Select any cell for the breakdown.

ShowBatter
SliderFour-seamSinkerSplitterChangeupCurveball

Select a count to see exactly what Tatsuya Imai throws in it.

Pitch arsenal

What he throws, how hard, and how often it misses in 2026.

Slider45.6%54086.72,27849.8%40.6%
Four-Seam Fastball42.9%50894.91,99844.5%19.7%
Sinker5.1%6194.51,95241.0%18.5%
Splitter3.5%4284.71,25121.4%75.0%
Changeup2.4%2886.81,92846.4%62.5%
Tatsuya Imai's arsenal by usage. Velocity is average release speed in mph, spin in rpm, and whiff rate is misses per swing — the cleanest single measure of whether a pitch beats hitters.

Pitching

Standard and advanced, by season.

Trend
2026161561.2640503877405.554.631.4611.25.81331110.3

Head to head

Put Tatsuya Imai beside up to three others.

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Tatsuya Imai

Similar players

Nearest 2026 seasons by command, run prevention and role, on rate statistics rather than totals.

How these are computed

wOBA uses linear weights measured from this season's own play-by-play rather than published constants, and wRC+ is park-adjusted against that same league. dbWAR is our own open implementation — not fWAR or bWAR — and the full derivation, including its simplifications, is on the methodology page.