The Seibu Lions of the Japanese professional baseball league have approved right-hander Imai Tatsuya (27) to advance to the big league.
Japanese media, including “Full Count,” announced on the 10th that the Seibu club allowed Ami to transfer to the Major League through the posting system.
It is the second time this winter that a player from Seibu is trying to post in the Major League after Kona Takahashi.
사진 확대 Seibu right-hander Imai Tatsuya will try to advance to the Major League through posting. Photo = Seibu’s official website.
Imai’s posting will be notified to the 30 major league lightbulbs, and they can freely negotiate with the lightbulbs for 45 days.
If the contract is agreed within this period, the Seibu club will receive a certain portion of the posting fee according to the down payment and the total amount of annual salary. If the contract with the Major League club fails, he will return as a Seibu player.
Imai joined seibu through the 2016 draft. He made his first-team debut in 2018, and pitched 159 games in Japanese professional baseball for eight years, recording 58 wins, 45 losses and a 3.15 ERA. He recorded double-digit wins for three consecutive years from 2023 and recorded the most strikeouts in 2024.
He played 1,632/3 innings in 24 games in the 2025 season, recording 10 wins, 5 losses and a 1.92 178 ERA.
He is one of the most notable Japanese pitchers in the Major League transfer market.
Hiroyke Hiroshi, head of the team’s headquarters, said, “I decided that now was the time and decided to admit the challenge. Accepting his consistent strong will to play baseball in the United States, he decided to respect that idea as a team. I want you to show a healthy performance in the United States. If he is absent, who has contributed greatly to the team recently, there will be an impact, but he will fight in order based on the growth of young players.”
Imai said through the club, “I am grateful for accepting my demands. After repeated discussions, I am grateful for the judgment over a long period of time, considering various things. Until now, I’ve been playing with the goal of winning the league and Japan’s best every year, but that idea is the same even if the team changes.”
[San Francisco (USA) = KIM JAE HO, MK Sports Correspondent]