Japanese right-handed pitcher Tatsuya Imai has signed with the Houston Astros on a three-year contract worth $54 million.

MLB.com reporter Mark Feinsand reported today that the Astros have agreed to a three-year, $54 million deal with Japanese right-handed pitcher Tatsuya Imai, making it the first significant signing in baseball for the start of 2026. The team has not officially announced this yet.

Feinsand further noted that if Imai reaches 100 innings pitched in the 2026 season, he will earn a $3 million performance bonus. Should this condition be met, his base salary for the 2027 and 2028 seasons will increase to $21 million annually. Despite previous offers from other teams with longer terms but lower average annual value, Imai ultimately chose this shorter-term contract with a higher average annual value and an opt-out clause to join the Houston Astros.

Imai was posted by the Nippon Professional Baseball’s Saitama Seibu Lions on November 19, giving MLB teams an exclusive 45-day negotiation window. He will become the fourth Japanese player to join the Astros after Kaz Matsui, Nori Aoki, and Yusei Kikuchi.

This signing highlights the Astros’ determination to strengthen their competitiveness in the Japanese and Korean player markets. Just a month ago, the team signed free agent right-hander Ryan Weiss, who had played two seasons in the Korean Baseball Organization. Imai and Weiss are two of the four starting pitchers the Astros have added during this offseason, as the team expects to lose key left-hander Framber Valdez to free agency.

The Astros also acquired right-hander Mike Burrows from the Pittsburgh Pirates in a three-team trade on December 19 and signed right-hander Nate Pearson to a one-year contract in October. The upcoming season’s starting rotation will center around Hunter Brown, with Cristian Javier, Spencer Arrigetti, Lance McCullers Jr., and Jason Alexander expected to return.

After suffering significant injuries in last season’s rotation, the Astros have now built considerable depth among quality starting pitchers.

Last year, three Astros pitchers underwent Tommy John surgery: Ronel Blanco, Hayden Wesneski, and Brandon Walter. Meanwhile, Arrigetti missed most of the season due to thumb and elbow injuries. McCullers, after returning from major shoulder surgery, was placed on the injured list three more times. Luis Garcia started only two games after his Tommy John surgery comeback before undergoing a second elbow reconstruction and eventually being released by the team.

At 27 years old, Tatsuya Imai has been selected to the NPB All-Star game three times, including consecutive seasons in 2024 and 2025. Over recent years, he has developed into a top ace in Nippon Professional Baseball—posting an ERA below 3 and averaging over one strikeout per inning in each of the last three seasons. His 2025 campaign was arguably his best: he recorded a 10-5 record with a career-best 1.92 ERA, struck out 178 batters in 163.2 innings, and contributed to a combined no-hitter for the Saitama Seibu Lions.

If not for 2025, his 2024 season was also outstanding: he went 10-8 with a 2.34 ERA, setting career highs with 187 strikeouts and 173.1 innings pitched.

Over eight seasons with the Saitama Seibu Lions, Imai compiled a 58-45 record with a 3.15 ERA and 907 strikeouts in 963.2 innings. Since the 2023 season, his ERA has dropped to 2.18, and he averages 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings.

“Every season, my goal is to win the league championship and the Japan Series, and that ambition will not change by joining a new team,” Imai said earlier this offseason. “I will continue to compete with a strong desire to win and do everything I can to help the team succeed.”

Imai’s primary weapons are his four-seam fastball and slider. In the 2025 season, his four-seam fastball averaged 94.9 mph, slightly above the MLB right-handed starter average of 94.6 mph, with a top speed exceeding 98 mph. His slider averaged 86.2 mph with a 46% whiff rate.

He also possesses a quality changeup mainly used against left-handed hitters, which averaged 85.5 mph in 2025 with a 41% whiff rate. Additionally, he mixes in a forkball and curveball, and introduced a wider-grip “Vulcan” changeup in 2025.

Imai is among several Japanese stars challenging MLB this offseason through the posting system, including power hitters Munetaka Murakami and Kazuma Okamoto. He is regarded as the most capable pitcher moving from NPB to MLB for the 2026 season.

At the MLB general managers meeting in November, Imai’s agent Scott Boras compared him to Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, noting that such NPB pitchers have grown into star players in MLB. Yamamoto was named the 2025 World Series MVP and was a finalist for the Cy Young Award.

“There’s no doubt his achievements in NPB are on par with Yoshinobu Yamamoto,” Boras commented about Imai.