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Los Angeles Dodgers Big bets on Japanese pitchers paid off earlier this month.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto won the World Series MVP award, Rocky Sasaki recorded critical outs and Shohei Ohtani started in game 7.
Tatsuya Imai is the latest Japanese ace and free agent to set his sights on Major League Baseball. But the right-hander hopes his route to the majors doesn't go through Los Angeles.
Imai is in the middle of the 45-day posting window, which gives him the opportunity to sign with any major league team of his choice.
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Tatsuya Imai of the Saitama Seibu Lions throws the ball against the Buffalo Oryx at the Belluna Dome on April 25, 2025 in Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan. (Sports Nippon/Getty Images)
“I prefer to destroy them,” Imai said on Japanese Television Asahi’s “Hodo Station.” according to MLB.comwith a hint of laughter.
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“Of course I would love to play together [Shohei] Ohtani, [Yoshinobu] Yamamoto and [Roki] Sasaki,” Imai added, “but beating a team like that and becoming world champion would be the most rewarding thing in my life.”
Imai most recently played for the Seibu Lions of Nippon Professional Baseball. The 27-year-old football player became available Major League Baseball teams on November 19. He went through some ups and downs in his first few seasons in NPB, but eventually settled in and became one of the most reliable starting pitchers in the league.
Tatsuya Imai (48) of Samurai Japan reacts after pitching in the top of the seventh inning during a game against the Netherlands at Kyocera Dome Osaka on March 5, 2025 in Osaka, Japan. (Jin Wang/Getty Images)
Last season, Imai played as a member of the national team's no-hitter and was named to his third career All-Star team. He has a 3.15 career ERA in 159 games with the Lions.
Imai also noted that he hopes to sign a contract with a team that does not have Japanese players on its roster.
Pitcher Tatsuya Imai of Japan throws out the first inning during the Asian Professional Baseball Championship final between South Korea and Japan at the Tokyo Dome on November 19, 2023 in Tokyo, Japan. (Jin Wang/Getty Images)
“They'll just tell you anything if you ask, right?” Imai said of the idea of teaming up with another Japanese player in the US: “I don’t really want that; in a sense, I want to feel the atmosphere of survival, and encountering cultural differences and figuring them out on my own is part of the fun.”
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The Dodgers have virtually cornered the market for top international players in recent years, but Imai's latest comments throw cold water on the idea of Los Angeles adding a fourth Japanese pitcher to its rotation in 2026.
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