Astros fans holding their breath after Tatsuya Imai injury scare at spring training

The Houston Astros pitching staff was devestated by injuries in 2025 and are already off to a rough start in 2026. Tatsuya Imai, the Astros' prized offseason pickup, was hit in the leg by a comebacker off the bat of Marcus Semien during the first inning of his Grapefruit League debut against the New York Mets.

Semien, who was leading off for the Mets, rocketed Imai's a pitch back up the middle at nearly 99 mph. It struck the Astros starter in the leg, and the deflection allowed Semien to reach base safely. Imai remained in the game and finished the inning, but was pulled from the game after only one inning having thrown just 10 pitches.

Tatsuya Imai pulled from his first Astros start after being struck by a comebacker

Thankfully, it appears as though the Astros have avoided disaster. Midway through the game, reporters converged on the clubhouse and caught up with Imai. The right-hander revealed that pitching just one inning was always the plan.

"Yeah, even before I went in, I knew I was going to do just one inning," Imai said through an interpreter.

Astros fans have no choice but to take Imai at his word. Other Astros starters, however, have logged more than just one inning of work. Hunter Brown and Mike Burrows each completed two innings. Jason Alexander exited after just ⅔ inning, but he was also touched up for four runs on five hits including two home runs.

The Astros can't afford to lose a single one of their starting pitchers this spring. Injuries derailed any hope Houston had to compete in 2025, and even after adding Imai and Burrows during the offseason, the Astros rotation is rather thin.

Obviously the Astros coaches and training staff will be keeping a close watch on Imai in the coming days. Houston is counting on Imai to be one of their top pitchers this season, and can ill-afford to lose him to injury out of the gate.