Astros’ Tatsuya Imai Throws Scoreless Inning, Hit by Comebacker in Spring Training Debut

Japanese right-hander Tatsuya Imai threw a 10-pitch scoreless inning and was struck by a comebacker in his spring training debut for the Houston Astros on Thursday against the New York Mets.

Imai allowed a leadoff single to Marcus Semien, whose sharp hit ricocheted off the pitcher's lower right leg and went into foul territory. Imai was checked by an athletic trainer and stayed in the game.

"That was not what we wanted to to see. But, you know, he came back and got out of that inning, 10 pitches, up to 95 (mph)," Astros manager Joe Espada said. "He looked really good out there."

Imai finished what he said was his one scheduled inning by getting Mike Tauchman on an infield popout before Bo Bichette grounded into a double play.

"It was fun just being able to face hitters from a different organization," Imai said through a translator.

The 27-year Imai was a three-time All-Star in Japan before agreeing in January to a $54 million, three-year contract with the Astros. Houston lost Framber Valdez when he left as a free agent and signed with Detroit.

Eight of Imai's 10 pitches were strikes, and he threw only sinkers and changeups. All three balls put into play, none out of the infield, came on changeups, and the Astros didn't send him back out for another inning.

"He was efficient enough where we thought about it, but thought that was enough there, especially with getting hit in the leg," Espada said, adding, "He's going to be sore tomorrow, that's for sure."

Imai had 0-2 counts on Semien and Tauchman. Bichette's inning-ending grounder to third base came on the first pitch, an 87 mph changeup.

"With the different baseball in the big leagues, I’ve been working on kind of being able to throw all of my pitches in a zone," Imai