{"id":569764,"date":"2026-03-28T10:23:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T10:23:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/569764\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T10:23:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T10:23:10","slug":"okamoto-quickly-fitting-in-with-blue-jays-great-vibes-overall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/569764\/","title":{"rendered":"Okamoto quickly fitting in with Blue Jays: ‘Great vibes overall’"},"content":{"rendered":"

TORONTO \u2013 Before Kazuma Okamoto<\/a>\u2019s first big-league game, he was a little nervous. He was excited, too, but some nerves were likely inevitable ahead of the first MLB game for the longtime Japanese star.<\/p>\n

Standing by his locker in the Blue Jays<\/a>\u2019 clubhouse Friday afternoon, the 29-year-old said these past few days in Toronto had gone well, with friendly people and good food in his new home city, but he was looking forward to finally taking the field and contributing.<\/p>\n

By the end of the night, Okamoto had made a considerable impact with his new team, collecting two hits, including a ninth-inning single that sparked a walk-off 3-2 win over the Athletics. And not only did he score the game\u2019s winning run, but he also made a pair of nice defensive plays, drew his first big-league walk and earned a post-game Gatorade shower.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just glad I could contribute,\u201d Okamoto said via interpreter Yusuke Oshima. \u201cGreat vibes overall today.\u201d<\/p>\n

That skillset is why the Blue Jays pursued Okamoto seriously this winter, ultimately signing the former Yomiuri Giants star to a four-year, $60 million deal. And by showing it off in the Blue Jays\u2019 first game of the 2026 season, he proved he\u2019s capable of making a significant impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m happy for him,\u201d manager John Schneider said. \u201cThat\u2019s really cool. The guys were happy for him. I\u2019m sure there were some nerves there, too, but I was really impressed with the way that he just played his game. He understands what we\u2019re doing here, and I sound a little bit giddy, but it\u2019s a guy who just fits in with what we\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

About 20 minutes before the game even began, Okamoto got his first loud ovation of the night. Wearing No. 7 and a throwback, white-panel Blue Jays hat, he was introduced along with his teammates, most of whom were playing at Rogers Centre for the first time since Game 7 of the 2025 World Series.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When Okamoto stepped to the plate for the first time, many fans were standing in anticipation of a memorable at-bat, but A\u2019s starter Luis Severino won that round, striking Okamoto out on a series of five fastballs up to 98 m.p.h.<\/p>\n

As Schneider joked later: \u201cWelcome to the big leagues.\u201d<\/p>\n

His next test came on defence, when Tyler Soderstrom hit a slow chopper to third in the top of the fourth. Okamoto charged, fielded the ball with two hands and threw off-balance to first, where Vladimir Guerrero Jr. did the splits to record the out.<\/p>\n

From second base, Ernie Clement was impressed.<\/p>\n

\u201cA heck of a play on both ends,\u201d Clement said. \u201cHe just seems really comfortable. I think he understands who he is as a player, and it doesn\u2019t look like he\u2019s trying to do too much out there. The internal clock on that play was great. It\u2019s been fun to watch. I think he\u2019s only going to get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next inning, Okamoto worked an eight-pitch walk against Severino, and it\u2019s at that point that his nerves started to subside.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI settled down,\u201d he recalled. \u201cI was able to lock in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got a really advanced approach,\u201d Clement added. \u201cI\u2019m so impressed with the walk he drew. He took some really tough pitches there, and it\u2019s those little things that win you the game. We\u2019ll all talk about the extra-base hits that we scored on, but it doesn\u2019t start without him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soon after reaching base, Okamoto scored the Blue Jays\u2019 first run of the season on an Andres Gimenez triple. He then returned to the field where he made another nice play, picking up a tough hop and throwing cleanly to first for another putout. By now, his comfort level was building.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want him to enjoy it,\u201d Schneider said, leading up to the game. \u201cI want him to just be who he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then, in the bottom of the seventh, Okamoto connected on a Scott Barlow sweeper for a line drive to left field that will go down as his first major-league hit. Fans responded with a standing ovation, while Vladimir Guerrero Jr. called for the baseball from the third base dugout, making sure that it could be authenticated and saved for Okamoto.<\/p>\n

Back in Japan, many of his former Giants teammates were watching. As for Okamoto, he enjoyed the support from his new fan base.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great in Tokyo as well, but it was even louder today,\u201d he said. \u201cI felt the support right from the get-go, and it was an awesome feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth and the game on the brink of extra innings, Okamoto took a pitch from Justin Sterner to the opposite field. Clement later doubled, setting up a Gimenez walk-off single and giving the Blue Jays a 1-0 record.<\/p>\n

As usual with this group, it was a team effort. Yet by showing right away that he can contribute, Okamoto eased his own nerves and validated his new team\u2019s faith in him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really impressive,\u201d Clement said. \u201cHe\u2019s definitely not a bottom-of-the-order kind of guy, but we love having him down there. Our 7-8-9 will go to work all day. He\u2019s been a great teammate so far, too. He fits right in. He\u2019s joking around. We love him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one game, but we think he\u2019s going to fit in quite well, and it was a good start for him,\u201d Schneider added. \u201cHe\u2019s a good hitter. When you have 30-plus homers for a lot of your career, people think about the power, but he\u2019s kind of like Vlad where he\u2019s a hitter before he\u2019s a power hitter, taking what the pitcher\u2019s giving.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Okamoto isn\u2019t one for collecting much memorabilia, he does plan on keeping the baseball from his first hit. And already, he\u2019s looking forward to his next chance to help his new team.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an awesome experience,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TORONTO \u2013 Before Kazuma Okamoto\u2019s first big-league game, he was a little nervous. He was excited, too, but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":569765,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,85],"class_list":["post-569764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=569764"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569764\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/569765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=569764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=569764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=569764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}