Slumping Mariners offense now has to solve the weirdest pitch in MLB

Between the Mariners' cold offense and the Astros' dreadful pitching, this weekend's series should solve the question of what happens when a stoppable force meets a movable object. But if the Mariners have one reason to fear Houston's arms, it relates to that one pitch Tatsuya Imai throws.

Seen his slider? It's not like other sliders. In fact, it's so unlike other sliders that it should probably be classified as a different pitch entirely. Whereas most sliders break from arm side to glove side, his goes both ways depending on the situation.

In other words, what you are about to see is not a changeup or a splitter:

That looks more like a screwball, a pitch that supposedly went extinct once pitchers naturally selected other pitches to take its place. But whatever it is, it's a pitch that could give the Mariners hell when they face Imai on Friday.

Tatsuya Imai's backwards slider is uniquely fit to dominate the Mariners

Much has been made about how slow the Mariners' bats have looked early in 2026, and it's neither a mirage nor a non-issue. They have indeed been slow, and it's making it way too easy for pitchers to beat them in the zone with fastballs.

Opposite Emerson Hancock for Friday night's opener of a four-game series at T-Mobile Park, the fastball is certainly a weapon Imai figures to deploy against Seattle hitters. And his is a good one, as it's averaged 94.8 mph in his first two starts as an Astro.

Given its backward movement, though, it's little wonder that his slider has been more of an effective weapon against lefty batters (.143 AVG) than against righty batters (.273 average). And apart from Julio Rodríguez and Randy Arozarena, the Mariners don't have any true right-handed hitters in their everyday lineup.

It has to at least cross Dan Wilson's mind whether this matchup is a good excuse to use Rob Refsnyder in reverse-split situation. He's a Mariner because he hits left-handed pitching, to be sure. But since he's not doing that, maybe it's a good time to experiment with him.

Mind you, the other offensive experiment the Mariners could run against Imai is to try not swinging. He's already walked seven batters while recording just 25 outs, and he hasn't landed even 40 percent of his pitches in the strike zone.

Whatever the Mariners do, literally any offense would be welcome. As alarming as it is that they're already last in the AL in scoring, the knives will really have to come out if they can't get it going against an Astros staff that co-leads MLB in runs allowed.