BALTIMORE \u2014 Tatsuya Imai\u2019s inauspicious introduction to Major League Baseball continued Tuesday night, prompting more questions about where the Houston Astros will go from here with their heralded free-agent addition.<\/p>\n
In his first competitive outing since being sidelined with arm fatigue, Imai threw 59 pitches across two laborious innings during a minor-league rehab appearance with Double-A Corpus Christi. He walked three batters, threw a wild pitch, permitted six hits and surrendered five earned runs.<\/p>\n
\u201cPerformance wasn\u2019t great,\u201d Astros manager Joe Espada acknowledged Thursday morning. \u201cBut at least we checked the box (that) he did look healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before Imai\u2019s appearance in Corpus Christi on Tuesday, Espada expressed cautious optimism that the 27-year-old right-hander would need only one minor-league rehab outing before returning to the major-league rotation.<\/p>\n
Imai\u2019s ensuing performance must have given team officials pause. On Thursday, Espada said Imai will make another minor-league start \u201csometime next week.\u201d Espada did not disclose a date or team for which Imai will pitch, but if the Astros intend to keep Imai pitching on five days of rest, it stands to reason he will pitch again Tuesday. Mondays are a universal off day in the minor leagues.<\/p>\n
No Statcast or pitch data was publicly available from Imai\u2019s appearance in Corpus Christi, but Espada said, \u201cStuff-wise, the arm fatigue was not present, that\u2019s for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
A team source said Imai hovered around 93 to 96 mph with his four-seam fastball. Before going on the injured list, Imai averaged 94.7 mph on his four-seam fastball, but he struggled to command anything in his arsenal. Imai has walked 11 batters in his first 8 2\/3 major-league innings.<\/p>\n
Espada said he was scheduled to have a call with Imai before Thursday\u2019s doubleheader against the Baltimore Orioles to map out his next steps.<\/p>\n
Imai\u2019s progress is important for an injury-ravaged Astros starting rotation in need of stability. Imai is one of three members of the Astros\u2019 season-opening rotation on the IL, along with ace Hunter Brown and right-hander Cristian Javier.<\/p>\n
Presuming the Astros want to keep Imai throwing on five days of rest \u2014 as he did in Nippon Professional Baseball \u2014 his next turn in the major-league rotation would have been Monday against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Daikin Park.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not concerned about the health,\u201d Espada said. \u201cWe want to make sure the performance from (Tuesday) will not linger into his next start. We want to hear from him, see how he felt, and then we\u2019ll decide what\u2019s next.\u201d<\/p>\n