The hardest thing for fantasy managers is always trying to evaluate the unknown. That evaluation has usually been tricky with minor league players, but the recent influx of international talent has made the playing field that much more difficult.
Enter Japanese right-hander Tatsuya Imai. Imai is reportedly drawing interest from the New York Mets and Yankees after teams are expecting him to be officially posted this week. His current team, the Saitama Seibu Lions of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), recently announced their intention to do so.
Imai, 27, has pitched for the Lions for eight seasons and is a three-time NPB All-Star. After posting uneven results in his first three years from 2018 to 2020, he recorded a 3.30 ERA in 25 starts in 2021 and has posted a sub-3.00 ERA in every full season since. This year, Imai turned in a career-best effort, producing a 1.92 ERA over 163 2/3 innings across 24 starts. He also set a career high with a 27.8% strikeout rate while lowering his walk rate to a personal-best 7.0%. His season was highlighted by a combined no-hitter, in which he pitched the first eight innings, and a 17-strikeout performance that broke the franchise record.
The NPB requires players to accrue nine years of service time before qualifying for free agency. By allowing Imai to move to MLB one year early, the Lions will receive a posting fee based on the value of his contract.
Imai has elite stuff and his control looked better than ever this past season. He sits around 94-96 mph and maxes out at 99. His slider and change make him one of the more dangerous pitchers in years. Expert comps have had him looking even better than Kodai Senga was coming into the US market and his ceiling is higher.