Although he only pitched 5 2/3 innings, Tatsuya Imai possibly had the best pitching performance for any Astros’ starter in this young season en route to his first career Major League win. I mean, his stuff was downright impressive throughout this entire start. 18 whiffs on 40 swings. Nine strikeouts. Only three hits and zero runs. Sure, Imai walked three, but his pitches were dancing. Of those 18 whiffs, 10 were from his slider.
Across 94 pitches, Imai reminded everyone why he was one of the most intriguing pitchers in free agency during the offseason. Whether he can build off this successful appearance in his next start is another question, though. But if his stuff looks comparable to what it did today, then I feel good about those chances.
It was also a low-stress outing for Imai, as the Astros’ lineup decided to show out with 11 runs, 18 hits, and 13(!) walks. For a lineup that struggled so much with plate discipline last season, it is a refreshing change of pace to see such a patient approach again. Jose Altuve, for example, has ten walks and only six strikeouts on the season. Before today, only four teams have had a higher walk rate than Houston’s lineup. I have a feeling they might leapfrog at least one of those teams when the leaderboards update tomorrow.
Overall, you couldn’t ask for a better game from the Astros. Again, Imai was fantastic. Kai-Wei Teng continues to impress, striking out three in 2 1/3 scoreless innings. The lineup forced Luis Morales out after just three innings. This was Houston’s best performance of the season thus far in multiple aspects. Scoring seven runs in the first four innings set the tone, with the remaining four runs (three in the sixth and one in the eighth) further cementing the blowout. The bottom half of the lineup, in particular, had a fantastic game, with Christian Walker, Joey Loperfido, Yainer Diaz, and Christian Vázquez accounting for 12 of the team’s 18 hits.
The Astros will look to take the series in Sunday’s rubber game, with Lance McCullers Jr. on the mound opposite left-hander Jacob Lopez.
Feature photo from @astros on X, Source Link
I argued incessantly last year that hitting coaches have very little impact on a team’s offense, but it’s very hard to ignore the much more patient approach and working the counts, so far, this year, compared to last year. It’s very refreshing to see and encouraging, as well.
The strikeout rate is down too. After years of consistently having a sub 20% strikeout rate, Astros were north of 20% last year. Back down under so far this year (but it’s early, and it’s close, 19.9%, so keeping an eye on that.
Christian Walker had career high K rate of 27% last year, but he is 16.7% so far this year. Astros are No. 1 in BB% and No. 4 in low K%. But yes, I agree we haven’t shown whether the K% will hold up. When you have Lopes, Matthew, and Smith getting playing time, the possibility that the team K% goes above 20% is realistic..
Brown and Imai are currently No. 7 and No. 8 in K/9 in the MLB. Link.