00:00I do want to hit on Tetsuya Imai coming back, who has been out for the last month with arm
00:04fatigue.
00:05Imai was signed from Japan by the Houston Astros this offseason and through his first three starts in the big
00:10leagues, struggled mightily.
00:12Three starts, eight and two thirds, seven hits, seven runs.
00:16He walked 11 of the 44 guys that he saw, 11 walks issued in eight and two thirds innings.
00:21But Imai is going to start on Tuesday night against Brian Wu and the Seattle Mariners.
00:25Are you hoping it was just a slam of the reset button for Tetsuya Imai?
00:30It seems like it was. And I'm sure arm fatigue was obviously a little bit of a part of it
00:34as he's making this adjustment and the below is down a little bit.
00:38But it was also just a really good opportunity for a guy who very candidly is struggling to acclimate to
00:44Major League Baseball in the United States,
00:46which is understandable with a team that has not, you know, had a lot of precedent with with players coming
00:51over
00:51and maybe still learning the best way to usher those players over and make them comfortable in a new setting
00:58here
00:58to just get acclimated, slow everything down, hit the pause button.
01:02You don't have to play games for a second. Focus on one, getting a little bit more acclimated to the
01:06big league baseball,
01:06but to just getting more acclimated to the United States in general in a routine and getting back to that.
01:11So I really hope that's the case. Obviously, you know where I stand in terms of who he is as
01:16a pitcher,
01:16when he is right. And what I saw in Japan, and I really still do think this is a middle
01:22rotation caliber starter.
01:23And this is kind of the last gasp for the Astros. Like if they need Amai to be a middle
01:28rotation starter,
01:29they just got a fantastic start from Burroughs. We're talking about how the season's slipping away
01:32and they're probably going to be sellers. And I think that's the most likely scenario here.
01:35But Eric Getty's throwing the ball decent. If Amai can come back and give you quality starts,
01:41it gives them just a gasp, a chance here. And that was the whole point when they signed Amai.
01:47That's where he was supposed to be here, especially with that kind of poison pill contractor.
01:50If he stinks, he's just going to opt in and kind of hold them hostage.
01:53So I think he's going to be better. Where I am concerned is the command,
01:58because that was the biggest question and variable going into his transition here.
02:02On top of all the other stuff, I can't predict how he's going to acclimate here.
02:05But I think this stuff is shown to be worthy when he's around the zone and good.
02:10But he just hasn't been around the zone enough. And that's going to be the biggest question.
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