HOUSTON (AP) 鈥� Houston starter Tatsuya Imai will pitch out of the bullpen for Houston鈥檚 weekend series against the Texas Rangers, manager Joe Espada said Friday before the start of the three-game set after the right-hander struggled in his last start.
Espada said that for now he expects the move to just be for this series.
鈥淲e鈥檙e working with him,鈥� Espada said. 鈥淲e want to try to get him right because when he鈥檚 on the mound and he鈥檚 a starter, his stuff is really good鈥� (and) he can be effective.”
Imai got just two outs while giving up two runs and walking four . He is in his first year with the Astros after signing a three-year, $54 million contract following eight professional seasons in Japan.
He鈥檚 had an up and down season, at times pitching extremely well but struggling in several starts. He started and pitched six innings of against the Rangers on May 25.
But he鈥檚 lasted three innings or less in five of his 15 starts, including failing to get out of the first inning three times. He鈥檚 6-4 with a 5.83 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 58 2/3 innings.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to work on a couple of things that we noticed in his last start and just trying to get him going that way,鈥� Espada said. 鈥淗opefully we can give him a few innings during the series. But if not, I think we鈥檝e got a pretty good plan here moving forward to see how we can get him back.鈥�
Espada said he did pitch out of the bullpen in Japan but that he hasn鈥檛 done it much. He鈥檚 confident that he can handle the temporary switch.
鈥淚 think he can quickly get ready,鈥� Espada said. 鈥淏ut we鈥檙e just going to go one inning at a time. We鈥檙e going to make sure that we give him enough time to bring him in the game.鈥�
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