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Tatsuya Imai

2026
Astros· RHP · throws R· 76.2 IP· 4.93 ERA· 1.42 WHIP· 338 batters faced
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Grade

His grade shows how good he has been, and at what.
Cbetter than 42% of qualified pitchers at limiting bases
StarterPower Arm

Misses bats in bunches; lives with the walks.

Imai has been below average at limiting bases

The simulator expects him to allow 0.458 bases per batter faced, better than 42% of qualified pitchers. His best skill is getting strikeouts (92nd percentile). His weakest skill is limiting walks (1st percentile).

His grade rests on 338 batters faced, with data through 2026-09-27.

How to read this chart
Each spoke is a skill estimate adjusted for sample size, not a raw season stat, and farther out is better. A ↓ marks a stat where a lower number is better, and its spoke is flipped so farther out still means better. The middle ring marks the league median and the outer ring the league best. Percentiles compare him with 517 qualified pitchers, those with 100+ batters faced, starters and relievers together.

Plays like…

Each of these pitchers shares his archetype and sits closest to him in xEB/PA. Pick one to see him side by side with Tatsuya Imai.

Trevor RichardsWhite SoxCaleb ThielbarCubsChase SilsethRangersGraham AshcraftReds

Pitcher type

This map shows what kind of pitcher he is, next to the league.

Pitcher type

He lands in the “Hit hard, few strikeouts” corner of the map.

League best:K% − BB% Jacob Misiorowski (26.8%)Hard-hit% allowed Blake Snell (29.0%)

How to read this chart
Two skills separate pitching styles: strikeout rate minus walk rate, where higher is better, and hard-hit rate allowed, where lower is better. The hard-hit axis is flipped, so the best corner is the top right. Each dot is a pitcher with 80+ batters faced this season, sized by batters faced. The dashed lines are the league median on each skill, and the league best on each is named above the chart. Click any dot to open that pitcher's page.
 Tatsuya ImaiLeague medianPercentile
Bases per ball in play(lower = better).539.527—
Walk rate(lower = better)14%9%1st
Strikeout rate(higher = better)26%22%92nd

A higher percentile is better, and the 99th is the top of the league.

Arsenal

These cards show what he throws and what each pitch does.

Tatsuya Imai leans on his slider (46% of pitches). His best pitch has been the sinker, saving 2.0 bases per 100 thrown against league average.

Pitch mix & swing-and-miss

+50 bases better than a replacement arm this season

He allowed about 148 estimated bases, against a replacement arm's 198 over the same batters faced.

Replacement level is per-batter and can't be split by pitch type, so the bars below use league average.

All pitches

He saved 0.5 bases against league average across 1,367 pitches, or 0.0 per 100 pitches.

Slider
46%
86.6 mph · RHP median 86.9
40% whiffs · Lg median 33%
cost 0.1 per 1000.6 total
Four-Seam Fastball
44%
94.8 mph · RHP median 95.1
21% whiffs · Lg median 21%
eveneven
Sinker
4%
94.5 mph · RHP median 94.7
—
saved 2.0 per 1001.2 total
Splitter
not charted
3%
84.7 mph · RHP median 86.9
—
—

His splitter isn't in the charts below, because only 44 of them were tracked with velocity and movement data this season.

He rarely throws his changeup and curveball (3% of his pitches combined).

How to read this chart
Each row is a pitch he throws at least 3% of the time, from pitch tracking in the regular season. The bar is how often he throws it, then its average velocity and its whiff rate, the share of swings that miss. Beside the velocity and the whiff rate is the median for that pitch, among pitchers of his hand for velocity and across the league for whiffs. More whiffs are better for a pitcher, while usage and velocity describe how he pitches. The Bases vs average bars score each pitch against a league-average pitch in the same count, and a bar to the left (saved) is better.

Mix by batter side

Compared with the league, his four-seam fastball tilts 18 points more toward righties.

Slider
46% vs LHH · RHP median 20%
45% vs RHH · RHP median 30%
Four-Seam Fastball
40% vs LHH · RHP median 40%
51% vs RHH · RHP median 33%
How to read this chart
Each row shows how often he throws a pitch to left-handed hitters (LHH) and right-handed hitters (RHH), next to the median for pitchers of his hand (RHP median). Medians come from right-handed pitchers who throw that pitch at least 3% of the time. Between 217 and 384 of them qualify, depending on the pitch. A mix is a plan, so a higher or lower share is neither better nor worse. Overall results by batter side are under Platoon splits.

Tatsuya Imai's pitch movement, 2026

Tatsuya Imai's pitch movement, 2026061218061218in← glove sidearm side →more risemore drop
SliderSL
Rise 0.9 in
−0.9 vs Lg median
Break 3.5 in
+7.2 vs Lg median
Vs. early season steady
Four-Seam FastballFF
Rise 11.1 in
−4.6 vs Lg median
Break 13.0 in
+5.3 vs Lg median
Vs. early season steady
SinkerSI
Rise 5.5 in
−2.9 vs Lg median
Break 18.0 in
+2.8 vs Lg median
Vs. early season —
Early season → nowLg medianNormal wobble around the dot
How to read this chart
Each dot is a pitch's current break in inches, averaged over his latest outings. Higher is more rise and further right is more arm-side break, and neither is better or worse. The faint trail runs from his early-season outings to the dot, and the soft halo shows how far normal noise can move it. League median is the small hollow ring, and a pitch marked * has none because too few pitchers throw it. The “changed” verdict removes a league-wide drift that the trail still shows, so a long trail can read as steady. The by-appearance chart below has the exact dates. More on the About page

By appearance

These charts follow his velocity, movement and mix from outing to outing.

These charts follow his velocity, movement and pitch mix one outing at a time, and each pitch keeps the same color in every chart. The velocity and movement charts also shade the middle of the league for scale. His splitter isn't in these charts, because only 44 of them were tracked with velocity and movement data this season.

Platoon splits

This section splits his results against lefties and righties.

Platoon splits (EB/PA allowed)

He handles righty bats better than lefty bats, by 0.043 EB/PA allowed.

50% probable range: +0.036 to +0.052

vs LHB204 PA0.453

vs LHB: shrunk estimate 0.453 EB/PA, 50% probable range 0.435 to 0.471, based on 204 plate appearances. Raw (unshrunk) rate: 0.507 EB/PA. League median vs LHB: 0.451 EB/PA.

His raw rate vs LHB (0.507) is off this scale. Small samples can push a raw rate this far, which is why the dot, the shrunk estimate, is the number to trust.

vs RHB134 PA0.409

vs RHB: shrunk estimate 0.409 EB/PA, 50% probable range 0.391 to 0.428, based on 134 plate appearances. Raw (unshrunk) rate: 0.387 EB/PA. League median vs RHB: 0.435 EB/PA.

0.3810.4060.4310.4560.481
← betterworse →
Below league medianAbove50% probable rangeHis raw rateMiddle half of the league

His split is about typical for a righty arm (median 0.042).

How to read this chart
  • Each dot is his estimate against that side, with its 50% probable range as the bar. These are bases allowed, so lower is better.
  • The diamond is his raw rate, which small samples make noisy, so the simulator pulls the dot toward a more trustworthy value.
  • The dashed tick is the league median, and the shaded strip is the middle half of pitchers with 100 or more batters faced.
  • The two splits average back to his modeled overall EB/PA allowed, not the xEB/PA headline.
  • Tap or hover a mark for its number. LHB and RHB are left- and right-handed batters. More on the About page

Contact allowed

These cards show what hitters do when they make contact.

Batters go up the middle off him most often, but they do the most damage to the pull side.

Pull side and opposite field depend on which side each batter hits from, so this pools every hitter he faced.

Batted balls allowed

Every ball hit off Tatsuya Imai this season is drawn where it landed.
hit · out
EBlowhigh
vs Randy ArozarenaHome run
102 mph · 34° · worth 3.9 bases
05/12 vs Mariners
vs Rhys HoskinsHome run
101 mph · 30° · worth 3.9 bases
06/19 vs Guardians
vs James WoodHome run
111 mph · 24° · worth 3.8 bases
07/07 vs Nationals
vs Dominic CanzoneHome run
106 mph · 25° · worth 3.8 bases
05/12 vs Mariners
vs Kody ClemensHome run
104 mph · 25° · worth 3.7 bases
07/01 vs Twins

Luck check

One out behind him came on a ball the simulator values at 1.5 bases or more.

vs Tristan PetersOutLucky out
103 mph · 42° · worth 1.9 bases
09/01 vs White Sox
How to read this chart
Dot color is estimated bases (EB), what the contact was worth no matter what the defense did with it. Darker means more bases, so a dark hollow ring in the outfield is a crushed ball his defense ran down. Tap or hover a dot or a row to link the two, and use the ▶ links to watch a play on Baseball Savant.

Deserved vs. actual

Batters have been credited with about 6 fewer bases than their contact off Tatsuya Imai deserved, so his results have been lucky so far.

Deserved by the contact he allowed100
Actually credited to batters94

Both bars count 186 balls in play, with walks and strikeouts left out.

How to read this chart
Every ball in play is worth the bases its exit velocity, launch angle and direction usually produce. If batters were credited with more than that, his results have been unlucky, and fewer means lucky. BABIP against is the batting average on balls in play he allows, next to the league median.

ERA 4.93 · WHIP 1.42 · BABIP against 0.277 (Lg median 0.286)

Best games

These are his biggest outings this season.

Best games

These are his best outings this season, ranked by bases saved against a replacement arm.