Much has been made already this offseason about the two Japanese hitters that have entered the free agent pool and the Phillies possible chances of signing either of them. Munetaka Murakami and Kazuma
Okamoto are sure to pull in multi-year, high value MLB contracts, and the Phillies have been connected to both in one way or another in the very early stages of the offseason.
But they’re not the only two players from NPB that are making the jump to MLB. Tatsuya Imai was also officially posted last week, electing to leave the Saitama Seibu Lions to pursue a career in the Majors. Imai is a 27-year-old right-handed starting pitcher who owns a career 58-45 record and 3.15 ERA in eight seasons with the Seibu Lions. His 2025 season saw him post a 1.92 ERA across 163.2 IP in 24 starts with career-bests in strikeout percentage (27.8%), walk rate (7%), and whiff rate (15.4%).
Imai has a small frame, measuring in at 5-feet-11-inches and weighing 154 pounds. There have only been ten players since 2000 with similar measurables to appear on an MLB mound, and five of them were position players pitching. Only two players, Salomón Torres and Ronny Henriquez, were actual pitchers who have had any kind of extended success in the Majors. Fred Norman was the last pitcher to make at least 150 career starts with a similar frame and he played from 1962 to 1980.
Despite that undersized stature, Imai has found success with a strong fastball that averages around 95-97 MPH that can run up to closer to 100 and a rather unique arm slot. Here’s a full scouting report from Baseball America’s Geoff Pontes:
“Imai is an undersized righthander who’s explosive and mobile on the mound. His low three-quarters slot borders on sidearm and creates a unique approach angle to the plate that creates deception and keeps hitters off balance. Imai throws four pitches, but his primary mix consists of a four-seam fastball, slider and splitter. His four-seamer sits at 95-97 and touches 98-99 at peak with a flat plane of approach and heavy armside run. The fastball is particularly effective when located in the upper third and has been adept at generating swings and misses. Imai’s slider is his best pitch and his primary swing-and-miss weapon. It has a gyro shape, sits 85-87 and touches 88-89 with late downshift that creates unique armside movement. The combination of Imai’s low arm slot, above-average velocity and late armside break make his slider a unique offering. The splitter is Imai’s third pitch, and it features good vertical separation off his fastball and heavy armside run to work as a swing-and-miss pitch in opposite-handed matchups. Imai threw a curveball around 2% of the time in 2025, and it featured spin rates in the 2500-2600 rpm range along with around 8-9 inches of sweep. There’s a real possibility a team adds a sweeper to his arsenal. Imai struggled to throw strikes early in his career, but he has seen consistent gains in that department in each of the last four seasons. He now projects for average control.“
And here’s a video from Yuri Karasawa (Yakyu Cosmopolitan on Twitter) for the JapanBall.com YouTube channel that covers more details of Imai’s career and features an in-depth breakdown of his arsenal.
Imai made some headlines this week when he mentioned that he would rather “take down” the Dodgers than join their growing collection of Japanese stars headlined by Shohei Ohtani, revealing a strong competitive nature. That sentiment will also theoretically open his market up beyond the Dodgers and the West Coast if he wants to join a contender. Fangraphs projects Imai to be in line for a contract worth around $100M over 5 years as he is easily the best NPB pitcher available this offseason and is among the best free agent starter options in general due to his past performance and age.
Meanwhile, starting pitching is an under the radar need for the Phillies this offseason thanks to Zack Wheeler’s recovery from thoracic outlet surgery and Ranger Suárez’ assumed departure in free agency. Philadelphia has in-house candidates to fill those vacancies, as Taijuan Walker could take Wheeler’s spot until the latter is healthy and top prospect Andrew Painter is expected to step into Suárez’ rotation spot. But as we saw with last season’s surprise trade for Jesús Luzardo, Dave Dombrowski is not afraid to fortify what is already seen as a strength.
But will the Phillies actually target Imai? Most assumptions this offseason have been that they will focus most of their spending power on the lineup this offseason, as they look to either re-sign or replace Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto as well as shakeup a lineup that has stalled in the NLDS for two straight seasons. There has yet to be a meaningful report to directly link the Phillies to Imai, but one could easily see where it’s a possibility.
Imai may not be quite the player Yoshinobu Yamamoto is or was when the latter came over to MLB two seasons ago, but their free agent markets are somewhat similar in that they will not be limited in the deal they can sign with an MLB team. Imai, like Yamamoto, can sign with the highest bidder if he so chooses, whether that be the Dodgers or someone else. That is unlike Roki Sasaki last year who was limited by international prospect signing rules, eliminating the ability for a team to blow all the other offers out of the water to be the highest bidder.
It’s become common knowledge that the Phillies reportedly offered the most money for Yamamoto who ultimately signed with the Dodgers for 12 yeas and $325M. Philadelphia keenly realized that the easiest way to counteract their geographical disadvantage when it comes to signing Japanese players is to utilize their financial advantage. It didn’t work with Yamamoto, but it is the correct way to approach such a situation. This failed pursuit also shows that the Phillies are willing to pay big money for NPB pitchers.
The Phillies are doing almost everything they can to finally break into the NPB market for players even if it hasn’t led to success yet. Murakami and Okamoto may be the most logical fits for their current roster, but perhaps Imai may actually be their best chance to finally breakthrough.
