Little brother had a pitch, I maxed out around what you said earlier but he couldn't, that he called the "trouble ball". It was a circle change with the other 3 fingernails on the ball. He didn't know where the hell it was going (other than somewhere around the plate) and it was like hitting a whiffleball with a piece of spaghetti.
Lots of late developing kids go to D3 to start, but IMHO, D3 can be glorified club ball - lots of the small D3 colleges use sports to get their numbers up most D3 schools need those sports to thrive, they can't give scholarships so they give money off of attending, but still people pay. I know it is still a great experience, but if you are D3 level really it is just fun while you are in college, very few D3 athletes move on. When my son was going through for soccer we had tons of D3 offers, as it was a Covid year, the D1 schools could not offer until June 1st...which SUCKED, ....D3 schools were pressuring people to make a quick choice. He held out - we went to nationals and he got several D1 offers...Michigan, Umass, etc.... Ultimately he hung up his boots and got a full ride for Engineering at the U in Salt Lake City. D3 though, lots of our friends played it and had a blast, just wish it had real scholarships etc. Did your son try to also play summer ball up on the East coast? Lots of the D3 players at Southwestern did, so they could get picked up by D1 and D2 schools - for later. One of our friends son's threw about 92, and he was the best pitcher at Southwestern, he got a few looks at bigger schools but never got a significant offer . DD
The Astros need to put this guy in the bullpen. He is a 2 pitch pitcher who has no idea where either of them are going.
Weird timing on this suggestion given he pitched 6 no hit innings last outing. ERA under 2 last season in Japan. Under 2.5 each of the last four seasons. Same pitch mix. He was terrible here through his first 16 MLB innings but a bigger sample size may be needed than that.
I made this argument before his last start and just felt like I needed to continue the narrative to not jinx a good run. Read back And I will do it again before his next start too.
After a torrid start to his MLB career, a lot of people were ready to write him off as a colosal failure. Astros quietly pulled him aside and worked with him away from the limelight of ML stadiums. He was put on the injured list while the Astros and his coaching worked with him. And it looks to have been very successful. Since getting back, Imai seems to be making very positive strides. Pitching 6 innings in consecutive starts is huge. Though he took the loss against the Brewers, he pitched a heck of a game, giving up only 2 runs.
Or he's just working things out slowly and there's randomness in small sample sizes. In his first 2 starts after his IL start, he gave up 9 runs in 9 innings and managed to raise his ERA. He also had a 6 inning, 0 run performance before his IL stint.
His low's have been painfully low, but his numbers under the hood are getting electric. Over his last 100 PA his K rate is 35%, which would be in the 98th%. His expected numbers are all equally dominant over that stretch. He only throws 2 pitches, but right now hitters simply cannot hit his wonky ass slider. As long as he can avoid the command breakdowns we've seen he's gonna be good, potentially dominant. I still fear a starter only having 2 pitches, but it sure as hell is working now.
It’s possible he can add another pitch or 2 once/if he really settles in. If Imai can just get to where the good version of him shows up 75% of his starts, he will be WELL worth his contract.
It depends on how you break down his slider. Sometimes, his slider breaks left, sometimes it breaks right, sometimes it drops like sinker, and sometimes it goes straight like a slow four-seamer. I call it a knuckle slider. What's interesting is that people were talking about his split-finger that he hasn't thrown yet.
Blum was talking about this in the 1st inning yesterday and it's been mentioned before. He's been throwing it, but Statcast was just calling it a slider until the past couple of games. IIRC Blum said (per the Astros) he threw 15 of them in an earlier start that were all misdesignated.
I think getting thrown cold turkey into the MLB might have not been the best route for him. Maybe they should have sent him to AAA or started him in the bullpen in the not so pressure cooker situations. Seems as he aclimates to pitching in the majors, his best stuff is starting to showcase itself. He’s got some really good tools and abilities. His bad outing have been abysmal, and probably are going to render his ERA horrible for the season, but the fella can definitely pitch in the major.
Looks like he came in exactly what he was: 2 pitches / every 6 days. And maybe being over-optimistic he could get tinkered & schemed different to immediate MLB form Imai should have spoken less the beginning of the season, and not looked like a sore loser homesick puss. Still, Gen Z safe-space pouty communication form aside, it appears he wasn't really wrong about what he said. It's an adjustment (or no adjusting) that has to be factored in
