{"id":503841,"date":"2026-02-27T21:17:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T21:17:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/503841\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T21:17:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T21:17:11","slug":"kazuma-okamotos-new-blue-jays-teammates-working-to-welcome-him-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/503841\/","title":{"rendered":"Kazuma Okamoto’s new Blue Jays teammates working to welcome him in"},"content":{"rendered":"

DUNEDIN, Fla. \u2014 Kazuma Okamoto<\/a> took a powerful swing and aimed for the batter\u2019s eye beyond the centre field wall.<\/p>\n

It was a quiet Friday morning at Blue Jays camp, and Okamoto was on a backfield along with a few coaches plus teammates including Daulton Varsho<\/a>, Andr\u00e9s Gim\u00e9nez<\/a> and Myles Straw<\/a>. Later in the day, Okamoto would leave for the World Baseball Classic to represent Japan, but before he left there was time for some friendly competition in the form of a mini home run derby.<\/p>\n

\u201cFive-for-six!\u201d hitting coach David Popkins yelled, as Okamoto sent one over the fence for a homer.<\/p>\n

Around the batting cage, his teammates shouted in approval. And while Gim\u00e9nez would eventually win the competition with a series of moonshots pulled down the right field line, the moment illustrated what Okamoto has accomplished in his first two weeks at Blue Jays camp. He\u2019s now a teammate rather than a stranger, with familiarity and trust gradually replacing the awkwardness that can come from joining a new team in a new country while speaking a foreign language.<\/p>\n

After batting practice, Okamoto addressed a crowd of mostly Japanese media, explaining that he\u2019s now feeling far more comfortable than before.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m getting used to the flow,\u201d Okamoto said via interpreter Yusuke Oshima. \u201cAnd I think I\u2019ve gotten a hold of it. It\u2019s been really fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the language barrier is real, Okamoto has support in the form of Oshima, who worked for the Blue Jays as Yusei Kikuchi\u2019s interpreter before returning this off-season to ease Okamoto\u2019s transition. Other Japanese speakers on staff include Yuka Sanui, the team dietician, and Gosuke Katoh, a former big-league infielder who’s now an analyst in major-league operations.<\/p>\n

And, potentially, Myles Straw.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m starting to learn a few words here and there,\u201d Straw said with a smile Friday morning. \u201cI\u2019ll say something and he\u2019ll just laugh. He probably thinks it\u2019s funny. But yeah, I\u2019m going to put in the effort to learn. It\u2019s good to communicate a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

For now, Straw speaks with Okamoto via Oshima, or simply via body language and vibes. Straw can tell Okamoto has a sense of humour, so he likes to tease him a little when the moment is right.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a great talent, we\u2019re all happy to have him and he\u2019s kind of a funny guy, so we\u2019re trying to break him in a little bit,\u201d Straw said. \u201cJust to get a smile out of him is a good feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many others have made a point of getting to know Okamoto, too. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.<\/a> already has a handshake with the third baseman while George Springer<\/a> spent plenty of time alongside him, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s gotten acclimated really quickly and become one of the boys,\u201d Ernie Clement<\/a> said.<\/p>\n

Mind you, Okamoto might be making that transition look easier than it is. Having played for five different teams, Tyler Heineman<\/a> knows the challenge of walking into a new clubhouse \u2014 and he\u2019s never dealt with the language barrier now facing Okamoto.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s difficult at first,\u201d said Heineman. \u201cYou kind of feel isolated and lonely. But it gets better and better and the veterans on this team and most teams I\u2019ve been on do a good job of somehow finding a way to include them.\u201d<\/p>\n

With that knowledge in mind, manager John Schneider is happy to see Okamoto adjusting smoothly with the help of his new teammates, but he\u2019s also glad that the 29-year-old speaks up when he needs to know something.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us it hasn\u2019t been real challenging,\u201d Schneider said. \u201cHe\u2019s been awesome. He really is receptive, and not afraid to ask questions, which we love.\u201d<\/p>\n

Naturally, there have been adjustments for Okamoto, who\u2019s used to a different daily rhythm that\u2019s more spread out and less condensed. When asked about his biggest surprise so far, his answer was brief.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone\u2019s huge here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Asked to expand, the six-foot, 212-pound Okamoto elaborated: \u201cEveryone\u2019s tall. Everyone\u2019s muscular. In Japan, everyone\u2019s around the same eye level as me or lower, and now I\u2019m having to look up. It\u2019s been a big surprise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regardless, the results on the field have been encouraging so far. Not only has he held his own at third base with a series of stellar plays, he\u2019s hitting .333\/.400\/.889 with a steady dose of batted balls above 100 m.p.h.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s very smooth in everything he does,\u201d Clement said. \u201cHe\u2019s got one of the smoothest right-handed swings that I\u2019ve ever seen, honestly, and then he\u2019s really smooth in the field. He\u2019s going to fit right in and make a really, really big impact with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s spring training,\u201d Schneider acknowledged. \u201cI\u2019m not going to get too excited. But everything looks like it should from the way he can adjust to the intent with which he\u2019s swinging, and he can make contact, too. I\u2019ve been really, really happy with the progress.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt looks right. It\u2019s been cool to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a lifetime OPS of .856 in Japan and six seasons with 30 or more home runs, Okamoto’s upside has never been in question. However, reaching that potential at the MLB level requires comfort in a new environment. That\u2019s why these first two weeks at camp have been a vital step for the Blue Jays\u2019 new third baseman.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s one of us now,\u201d Straw said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DUNEDIN, Fla. \u2014 Kazuma Okamoto took a powerful swing and aimed for the batter\u2019s eye beyond the centre…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":503842,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,462,82],"class_list":["post-503841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=503841"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503841\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/503842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=503841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=503841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=503841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}