Kazuma Okamoto hopes to bring his heavy-hitting ways from the Japanese league over to MLB. He's off to a hot start in spring training with the Blue Jays.Mike Watters/Reuters
Kazuma Okamoto has already acquired three nicknames in the week since he reported to the Blue Jays’ training camp.
On social media, Toronto fans have taken to calling the team’s new third baseman the Big Oak. In their pre-game notes on Friday, the club’s communications managers referred to him as the Okamotive. Still others have tabbed him the Kaz-Train.
It has been a while since an incoming player has created so much buzz so quickly. The 29-year-old Japanese slugger cuts an intimidating presence when he steps up to home plate. He pounds pitches like a jackhammer – four at more than 100 miles per hour so far in as many exhibition games. He is quirky, describing himself as “very serious and manly” before he broke into laughter in his first meeting with the media in Dunedin, Fla., where the team holds its spring training.
He speaks little to no English but has his own interpreter and, curiously enough, speaks a bit of Spanish, which has helped him to quickly develop a friendship with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. They even have created their own handshake – a fist bump followed by a bow.
Okamoto was immediately assigned to the top batting practice group with George Springer, Guerrero and Addison Barger, among others. After hitting a long home run, Okamoto declared it was foul. It was fair, but his playful way of getting an extra swing.
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From his first day, Okamoto has been followed by camera crews from Japan, where over 11 seasons he hit 248 home runs in the Nippon Professional Baseball League. Asahi Television sent former big league pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, now its colour commentator and analyst, to Florida last week to do a piece on him.
Nobody expects Okamoto to become the next Ichiro Suzuki or Shohei Ohtani, but he has looked excellent so far. He has gone 3-for-9 with a home run and four RBIs. His first homer traveled 431 feet to dead centre field. On Thursday he cranked a 100-mph double into the left-field corner with the bases loaded during an 8-7 loss to the Miami Marlins.
Toronto manager John Schneider said it is too soon to get overly excited but he has loved what he has seen from Okamoto so far. Earlier in the spring Schneider said he will not do anything to tinker with the Big Oak’s swing.
“It hasn’t been real challenging communicating with him,” Schneider told reporters on Friday. “He has been awesome. He is really receptive and he is not afraid to ask questions, which we love.”
Okamoto, right, getting congratulated by Andrés Giménez after hitting a long home run in batting practice, has shown a quirky sense of humour that should allow him to fit in well with his new team.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
Early in the day on Friday, Okamoto took part in some drills with a few teammates and hit five home runs in six swings from the batting cage.
“I’m getting used to the flow and I think I have gotten a hold of it,” he told the Japanese media. “It has been really fun.”
A few hours later, Okamoto was on his way back to Asia, where he will play for Team Japan during the World Baseball Classic. Japan is the defending champion in the international tournament.
In the last one in 2023, Team Japan went 7-0 and Okamoto had six hits in 18 at-bats, two home runs, seven runs batted in and was walked eight times.
The Blue Jays have invested $US60-million in Okamoto over four years. They plan to bring him along slowly but it hasn’t evolved that that way in his first week in North America. The team offers support to all foreign players, but those from Japan often need more help adjusting than those from the Caribbean and Latin America.
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For someone like Okamoto, who has a lucrative contact, the pressure is immense.
“It’s a big jump to come here,” Schneider said last week. “You are leaving everything you know. You’re not familiar with any of the pitchers and you are not sure how they will attack you and at what speed. It’s a whole different world.
“He is starting from scratch.”
So far so good. Barring an injury, there is no doubt that on opening day Okamoto will be at third when the Blue Jays face the Athletics at Rogers Centre.
David Popkins, the club’s batting coach, said he’s enjoyed watching Okamoto get his timing down.
“The key right now is not to try to be perfect,” he said. “It’s more to get used to the pace of play here. He is just getting his feet wet.”