The Los Angeles Dodgers have shaped a conglomerate of Japanese expertise. Shohei Ohtani is a three-time MVP. Yoshinobu Yamamoto simply received World Sequence MVP. Roki Sasaki endured a rocky begin however nonetheless possesses high-end expertise.
Tatsuya Imai has no intention of becoming a member of them in Los Angeles. He doesn’t wish to be a part of the Dodgers’ dynasty.
He needs to destroy it.
“Of course, I’d enjoy playing alongside Ohtani, Yamamoto, and Sasaki, but winning against a team like that and becoming a world champion would be the most valuable thing in my life,” Imai informed former major-leaguer Daisuke Matsuzaka on the present “Hodo Station.” “If anything, I’d rather take them down.”
That aggressive fireplace ought to resonate with a sure president of baseball operations.
Again in October, Buster Posey has expressed his disdain of opposing gamers exchanging pleasantries earlier than video games. As a fan, he needs friction. And if Imai indicators with the Giants to play reverse of Ohtani, Yamamoto and Sasaki on the Dodgers? That’s a recipe for friction.
Imai, 27, will develop into the most recent Japanese ace to leap to the US. He was posted by the Seibu Lions on Nov. 10, and his negotiating window lasts till Jan. 2. Between from time to time, an MLB crew will signal him to a long-term, nine-figure contract.
“If there were another Japanese player on the same team, I could just ask them about anything, right? But that’s actually not what I’m looking for,” Imai continued. “In a way, I want to experience that sense of survival. When I come face-to-face with cultural differences, I want to see how I can overcome them on my own — that’s part of what I’m excited about.”
Imai had a shaky begin to his profession, posting a 4.29 ERA over his first 4 seasons. His strikeout charges weren’t something spectacular, however the actual concern was a bloated stroll charge. From 2022-25, against this, Imai posted a 2.21 ERA over 529 2/3 innings with 556 strikeouts.
Final season was Imai’s magnum opus, one the place he had a career-best 1.92 ERA and career-best 2.01 FIP over 163 2/3 innings over 178 strikeouts. Whereas his numbers during the last 4 seasons are spectacular, some pundits think about NPB to be in the midst of its personal “dead ball era” starting round ‘22 resulting from decrease league-wide offensive numbers.
The largest growth in Imai’s sport has been the limiting of walks. Over the primary 5 years of his profession, Imai walked 5.32 batters per 9 innings. That dropped to 4.13 in ‘23, 3.63 in ‘24 and a career-best 2.47 in ‘25. Regardless of these strides, one of many huge questions that Imai must reply is whether or not he can maintain that improved command over an extended MLB season.
Imai, standing at 5’11” and about 176 kilos, throws with a low, considerably unorthodox arm slot that Marquee Sports activities Community’s Lance Brozdowski estimates is round 20 levels (Logan Webb’s common arm angle, for comparability, is 22 levels). His mixture of low arm slot and pitch shapes has drawn comparisons to the Seattle Mariners’ Luis Castillo and the Minnesota Twins’ Joe Ryan.
Imai’s four-seam fastball, specifically, has comparable motion to that of Ryan, the large distinction being velocity. Whereas Ryan had a median fastball velocity of 93.6 mph in 2025, Imai’s heater sits round 95 mph and is able to touching 98 and 99 mph when he wants further juice.
Together with the four-seamer, Imai’s secondary combine is headlined by his “reverse slider.” Almost each slider strikes to a pitcher’s “glove side” — suppose Sergio Romo’s well-known no-dot slider that sweeps from proper to left. Imai’s slider, against this, typically strikes to his “arm side,” or left to proper.
There aren’t many pitchers who throw the sort of slider, two examples being the Toronto Blue Jays’ Trey Yesavage and free agent Dauri Moreta. It’s troublesome to undertaking how Imai’s “reverse slider” will translate, however Moreta and Yesavage have each discovered success with these arm-side sliders.
Alongside along with his fastball and slider, Imai’s repertoire additionally includes a splitter, changeup, curveball and sinker (additionally known as a vulcan change). Imai primarily depends on his fastball and slider in opposition to right-handed hitters however makes use of a extra various pitch combine in opposition to left-handed hitters, who’ve had their share of success in opposition to Imai.
Imai doesn’t have the upside of Yamamoto however tasks as a greater prospect than the Chicago Cubs’ Shota Imanaga and the New York Mets’ Kodai Senga, who each made their MLB debuts at 30. His mixture of age, manufacturing and profile will land him a deal round six years and $150 million, however it’s attainable that Dylan Stop’s seven-year, $210 million pact with the Toronto Blue Jays impacts Imai’s market.
Imai has been linked to the Giants this offseason, a lot in order that San Francisco is taken into account the favorites. With Robbie Ray set to develop into a free agent after 2026, the Giants can be sensible to safe a starter past subsequent season.
That stated, it’s price questioning whether or not the Giants would give that a lot cash to a pitcher. When The San Francisco Normal requested Giants chairman Greg Johnson about the potential for signing a top-tier pitcher, Johnson replied, “I’d say we’re going to be very cautious about those kinds of signings.”
Nonetheless, it’s not inconceivable to think about the Giants making a considerable long-term dedication to Imai. Posey made a visit to Japan throughout final season, and it’s totally attainable he gathered constructive suggestions on Imai as a prospect.
With the Blue Jays signing Stop and the San Diego Padres presumably being offered, the Giants may very properly be the frontrunners to land Imai’s providers. Ought to that marriage occur, Imai may have loads of alternatives to take down the likes of Ohtani, Yamamoto and Sasaki.
