Tatsuya Imai struggles with nerves, walks in Astros debut

HOUSTON — Though Tatsuya Imai made more than 100 starts in eight seasons playing professionally in Japan, he admitted to having a case of the jitters Sunday in his major league debut for the Houston Astros.

“I went out there looking to have fun, but with that said, it’s a different environment from the time I was in Japan,” he said in Japanese through an interpreter. “I was kind of nervous, which may have been a bad thing, but it was just a different atmosphere for me.”

Imai allowed three hits and four runs with four walks and four strikeouts in 2 2/3 innings in Houston’s 9-7 win over the Los Angeles Angels.

It was a disappointing debut for the three-time Japanese All-Star, who signed a three-year, $54 million contract this offseason after spending eight seasons with the Pacific League’s Seibu Lions.

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Manager Joe Espada was surprised that Imai walked so many batters.

“I wasn’t expecting the scattering the zone,” Espada said. “He’s shown the ability to throw strikes. So, first one, we got that one out of the way. I’m sure that Imai can’t wait to get back on the mound.”

The Astros led by four with one out in the third when Imai walked Zach Neto before he moved to third on a single by Mike Trout. Nolan Schanuel walked to load the bases and Jorge Soler cleared them with his double to the corner in left field to get the Angels within one.

Jo Adell’s two-out RBI single tied it at 4 and chased Imai.

The 27-year-old Imai said he had about 10 friends and family at Daikin Park on Sunday for his debut.

“I wanted to perform better for them and get through five innings today, but as you saw, I threw up too many pitches in the first and second innings,” he said. “So, I didn’t perform up to the level that I wish to for them.”

Along with his rookie jitters, Imai said he’s still adjusting to the difference between a major league mound from the one he was used to pitching on in Japan.

“There’s a difference in the slope of the mound compared to Japan, so I’ve definitely felt that,” he said. “So I want to get on that as soon as possible and make adjustments so when the next time I go out on the mound and deal with the slope again, I can adjust to it better.”

Though Imai acknowledged being nervous on Sunday, veteran catcher Christian Vázquez said he couldn’t tell and he thinks there are things he did in his first game that he can build on moving forward.

“I think he was calm, very calm,” Vázquez said. “Sometimes in a debut … you see in the eyes that he’s nervous or know (there’s) a lot of like emotion going on. But he looked very calm and that’s a good sign for a debut in the big leagues.”