Earlier last week, news broke out that Houston Astros rookie Tatsuya Imai was expected to be activated off the IL and start this Tuesday, taking the ball against the Seattle Mariners at home. Ironically, the Mariners were the last team he faced, but on their home turf. In his last start, he indicated T-Mobile Park mound was too tough and the weather was cold, where his early beginnings to 2026 effectively fell apart. Imai Dominant In Japan, Unable To Adjust Cleanly To MLB The 2025 campaign Imai delivered for the Saitama Seibu Lions was a masterpiece, a prime reason why the Astros knocked on his door. He went 10-5 with a 1.92 ERA over 163.2 innings, leading the entire NPB in WHIP at 0.89 and finishing second in strikeouts with 178. He struck out a club-record 17 batters in a single game on June 17, and tossed eight innings of a combined no-hitter earlier that April. By any measure, the command issues that had plagued him early in his career seemed solved.…