The Los Angeles Dodgers will have plenty of opponents aiming for them next season after a second consecutive World Series title, and current free-agent starting pitcher Tatsuya Imai figures to be one of them.
The star Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) pitcher has yet to choose his new home in MLB after being posted by the Saitama Seibu Lions on Nov. 19.
While the Dodgers have been speculated as a potential landing spot for the right-hander, he’d prefer to compete against the back-to-back World Series champs.
In particular, Imai wants to see how he holds up against Shohei Ohtani, according to Michael Clair and Ayako Oikawa of MLB.com:
“I really want to see how much my fastball holds up against him —to test myself by throwing it to him,” Imai said.
Imai did not make his NPB debut until 2018, which was the same year Ohtani left Japan for his rookie season in MLB with the Los Angeles Angels.
Imai first appeared in the NPB’s Minor Leagues in 2017, throwing 15.1 innings across seven appearances. He made at least one start in the Minors every season from 2018-2023.
The right-hander had a breakout season in 2023, with a 2.30 ERA in 133 innings and 130 strikeouts. He managed to outdo himself the ensuing season pitching full-time at the professional level, with a 2.34 ERA and 187 strikeouts in 173.1 innings.
Imai finished on a high note with the best season of his career in 2025, and concluded his NPB career with a 3.15 ERA and 907 strikeouts in 963.2 innings.
How will Shohei Ohtani hit against Tatsuya Imai?
Ohtani should have a favorable matchup against Imai in the event they face each other in the Majors next season.
Being able to handle high velocity fastballs up in the zone is what allowed Ohtani to take his offensive game to another level since 2022.
Against four-seam fastballs 95 mph or higher, the left-hander had a .257 batting average, .459 slugging percentage and .780 on-base-plus-slugging in 2022. That was followed by a .350 batting average, .567 slugging percentage and 1.010 on-base-plus-slugging percentage in 2023.
In that same time frame, against four-seamers in the upper third of the zone or higher — where Imai prefers to attack hitters — Ohtani posted a .314 batting average, .571 slugging percentage and 1.006 on-base-plus-slugging percentage in 2022; and a .385 average, .738 slugging and 1.219 on-base-plus-slugging in 2023.
In 2025, Ohtani had a .318 batting average against pitches in the upper-middle part of the strike zone and a .348 batting average against pitches up and in.
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