Astros manager Joe Espada said the team is addressing Tatsuya Imai’s admitted struggles with adapting to life in MLB and the U.S.
Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle
A day after Japanese right-hander Tatsuya Imai acknowledged struggling to adapt to life in Major League Baseball and the U.S., Houston Astros officials vowed to help him through the transition.
Imai, who was placed on the injured list Monday due to “arm fatigue,” said through an interpreter Tuesday that he has struggled “to adjust to the American lifestyle, like other than baseball as well. Baseball and outside of baseball.” Houston manager Joe Espada was asked about Imai’s comments before the Astros played the Rockies on Wednesday.
“We have talked to him about it,” Espada said, “and it’s going to take some time for him to adjust. And we’re all doing everything in our power to help him adjust. From Japan to Florida (for spring training), schedule is different, coming to Houston and then the first road trip he’s (gone) for three cities. So, it’s going to take some time. And we’re all helping him try to adjust. And he will.”
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The Astros signed Imai to a three-year, $54 million deal in the offseason after he pitched in parts of nine seasons in NPB in Japan. Imai made three starts for Houston, posting a 7.27 ERA in 8 ⅔ innings, before landing on the IL.
Imai is the first player the Astros have signed directly from Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan, which created a learning curve for both parties this spring. The Astros adopted a flexible approach with Imai in camp, allowing him to shape his buildup, as part of their effort to have him assimilate.
In spring and his first few starts, Imai pointed out differences with the baseball and the pitching mounds in MLB. Tuesday, Imai also cited differences “outside of baseball.” Asked about those, Imai said examples are “the travel is different” and “also the timing when the players eat.”
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Astros general manager Dana Brown told the team’s flagship radio station 790 AM on Wednesday there are “just adjustment periods that these guys have to go through” playing in a different country and that “we’ll help him make the necessary adjustments to be successful at the major-league level.”
“You have to remember the human element as well,” Brown said on 790 AM. “There’s an adjustment period. He’s used to eating at certain times … if he feels like there’s a mound difference, there’s a difference to the baseball, these are all growing pains where guys learn to make adjustments.
“This is something that multiple players that have come from Japan had to deal with. It’s part of being active in that market. So you just have to continue to listen and try to make the adjustments for him, and that’s the key, listen and try to help him out.”
This spring, Astros pitching coaches said they’d reached out to contemporaries who have worked with Japanese players moving to MLB for advice on how to help that transition from a baseball perspective. Espada said he has done the same regarding the holistic move.
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“I’m always calling major-league managers who’ve had Japanese players, ‘How can I continue to help him and be a bridge for that transition? ’” Espada said. “They all say the same thing — it will take some time. Just make sure you extend your arm and be more than just a manager. Be someone they can talk to.”
When Imai might return to the mound is unclear. He is shut down from throwing until he regains arm strength, according to Espada, who said that tests on Imai’s arm showed “no issues.”
Espada said he is “all ears” to topics Imai might want to discuss about his transition and that he feels able to “understand” the process, to an extent. Espada grew up in Puerto Rico before playing college baseball in Mobile, Ala., and he noted that many MLB players from countries outside the U.S. have needed to adjust to new surroundings at some point in their careers.
“So I understand Imai, and we all are on his side and we’re going to do everything in our power to help him,” Espada said.
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