Japanese right-handed pitcher Kona Takahashi had strongly considered moving on to Major League Baseball after pitching with the Saitama Seibu Lions of Nippon Professional Baseball. The Houston Astros recently signed Lions pitcher Tatsuya Imai, and they had also considered Takahashi for their pitching staff. As a result, Takahashi is returning to the Lions.
Takahashi had posted to move on to Major League Baseball this year but his window is closing Sunday at 5 p.m. ET. As a result, he decided that going back to his home country was his best option.
He is expected to sign a multi-year contract with Seibu, and that deal will give him the ability to opt out of the deal and make a deal with a Major League Baseball team without having to pay a posting fee in the future.
Takahashi is not a power pitcher. He averages around 93 mph with his fastball, and he also features an 88 mph splitter, 81 mph slider, 89 mph cutter and 75 mph curveball, per David Adler of MLB.com.
He is considered a ground ball pitcher because he does not have some of the swing and miss stuff of some of the top pitchers in Major League Baseball. Takahashi was able to get batters to hit the ball on the ground in more than 50 percent of their at bats.
He was a first-round draft pick in the Japanese (NPB) draft in 2014. He has a 73-77 record with a 3.38 career earned run average.
Astros hoping that Imai will fill a key starting role
Imai signed a 3-year, $54 million deal with the Astros as he had become a star pitcher in Japanese baseball. He is coming off the best season in his career. Imai had a 10-5 record also with a 1.92 ERA and 178 strikeouts in 163.2 innings in 2025. He is a 3-time All-Star in Japan.
Astros pitcher Framber Valdez is a free agent and he appears likely to be leaving Houston.
