Astros Face New Concern as Tatsuya Imai Reportedly Leaves Road Trip

Wave the white flag, sound the alarm, whatever it takes, but please make it stop. The 2026 season for the Houston Astros is looking a lot like the 2025 campaign, where they set records for the amount of players on the injured list.

The worst part for the Astros at this juncture is that the pitchers are the most affected, and it seems fate has no mercy.

The original starting rotation for the 2026 season was:

Hunter Brown
Mike Burrows
Cristian Javier
Tatsuya Imai
Lance McCullers Jr.

Javier is on the 15-day list with a Grade 2 right shoulder strain. Hunter Brown suffered the same injury just a few days earlier. Now Imai is in question. Reporter Brian McTaggart reported sources stating Imai was headed back to Houston today after his horrendous start Friday night.

While nothing official has been announced, being sent back to Houston likely isn’t a good sign.

Injuries Continuing an Unwelcomed Familiar Pattern

Houston Astros starting pitcher Hunter Brown | Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

Who can forget the 2025 run the Astros had with the injured list? Unfortunately, early on in this season, the trend doesn’t seem to be going away, or even headed in the right direction.

The mounting number of pitchers having to sit out is putting incredible stress on the bullpen and beyond. After Friday night's loss to the Seattle Mariners 9-6, the Astros pitching staff sits at the bottom of the MLB in several stats.

With an overall 6.32 ERA, Houston’s pitching crew find themselves at the very bottom of the MLB after 14 games. Given that eight out of the 10 players on the injured list are pitchers, this isn’t surprising. They have also walked the most players (80) and allowed the second-most home runs (21). These numbers won’t win games

Moving Forward

Houston Astros manager Joe Espada | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Now we wait. With nothing official coming from the team, there is no confirmed injury to Imai. Questions have to arise, though, after his stat line from Friday night.

Imai didn’t make it out of the first inning, where he also hit two batters.

.1 Innings Pitched
3 Earned Runs
4 Walks
37 Pitches
0 Strikeout

Maybe it was just a bad day, maybe he is injured. For the Astros sake, the hope will be a very minor injury if anything as this team can’t withstand many more hits to the pitching squad. The news of him leaving the team on the road trip has to add one more layer to an already suffocating situation.

In searching for answers, a source has relayed to McTaggart that right-hander Jayden Murray will join the team today in Seattle while J.P. France will get sent back down after throwing in 2 2/3 innings against the Mariners.

The pitching lineups will now become a game of chess for Joe Espada as he tries to manipulate the rotation to find some way to keep people healthy and win.