Tatsuya Imai

Tatsuya Imai (今井 達也)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 154 lbs.

• High School Sakushin Gakuin High School

• Born May 9, 1998 in Kanuma, Tochigi, Japan

BR register page

Biographical Information

Tatsuya Imai has pitched in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Imai represented Japan in the 2016 U-18 Asia Baseball Championship, and he pitched 5 innings with only one run allowed in the final game to help Japan win Gold. The Seibu Lions selected him in the first round of the 2016 NPB draft, but he spent his rookie season in the NPB Farm Leagues due to a right shoulder injury. Imai joined the rotation in 2018, and he went 5-5 with a 4.81 ERA. He started for the Lions in Game 4 of the final stage of the 2018 PLCS, but he allowed 4 runs in 4 2/3 innings and Shota Takeda got the win over him. The Lions were beaten by the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks in 5 games. Imai also got one vote for the 2018 Pacific League Rookie of the Year Award, finishing sixth behind Kazuki Tanaka's 112 votes, Yoshinobu Yamamoto's 70, Ren Kajiya's 45, Yudai Fujioka's 17 and Kotaro Kiyomiya's 2.

The Tochigi native remained in the rotation in 2019, but he faced control problems, and he ranked 2nd in walks in the PL (3 behind Kodai Senga). Despite the walks, Imai was a productive starter as he was 7-9 with a 4.32 ERA, and ranked 9th in strikeouts (122 behind Senga). He started in Game 2 of the final stage in the 2019 PLCS, but he allowed 6 runs in 2 2/3 innings and the Lions were beaten by the Hawks again. He struggled in 2020 as his ERA rose to 6.13 in 19 starts. Imai finally broke out in 2021. He still walked tons of batters, but he realized that his stuff could cover his bad command, so he recorded a 3.30 ERA in 25 games. He led the league in walks with 99, but also ranked 5th in Ks, 69 behind Yamamoto. Imai also relieved Yamamoto in the third inning of 2021 NPB All-Star Game 1 with a 2-0 lead, and pitched 2 shutout innings. He allowed a Ryosuke Kikuchi single, retired Ryutaro Umeno, gave up a hit to Koji Chikamoto then struck out Hayato Sakamoto and got Teruaki Sato on a fly. In the 4th, he got Seiya Suzuki and Kazuma Okamoto. Dayán Viciedo singled but he recovered to whiff Jefry Marté. Naoyuki Uwasawa took over with a 3-0 lead over the Central League but the bullpen couldn't hold on.

The Sakushin alumni suffered a left ankle injury, so he only started 9 games in 2022. In the first stage of the 2022 PLCS, he started in Game 2 but allowed a grand slam to Yuki Yanagita in the 3rd inning. He allowed another run in the next inning, and Keisuke Honda relieved him. Nao Higashihama and the Hawks eliminated them in this game, and Imai got the loss. After this season, he changed his uniform number to "48", in order to honor veteran Shota Takekuma, who retired after 2022. Imai improved in 2023 as he had a 10-5 record with a 2.30 ERA, but his command problem was still terrible. He ranked 4th in wins (6 behind Yamamoto) and 6th in strikeouts (39 behind Yamamoto), but also led the league in walks and hit-by-pitches.

Imai's repertoire features a fastball that peaks at 99 mph, a cutter, changeup, curveball and a slider.