Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Kazuma Okamoto makes a throw to first base at spring training in Dunedin, Fla. on Saturday.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
After a delay of a few days due to visa issues, Kazuma Okamoto arrived in Dunedin on Friday evening. Dropped off at the Blue Jays’ palm tree-lined training complex in central Florida, he stumbled around for a bit with no idea where to go.
“It’s really big,” Toronto’s presumed third baseman said on Saturday of the sprawling campus via translator Yusuke Oshima. “You could easily get lost. It’s awesome.
“I am blown away.”
One of Japan’s most reliable power hitters, Okamoto has belted 248 home runs for the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball’s Central League over the last eight-plus seasons.
With the exception of an injury-plagued 2025 where he hit just 15, he seems in the prime of his career. In the four preceding seasons to that he blasted 39, 30, a personal-high 41 and 27.
“He hits the ball hard,” John Schneider, the Blue Jays manager, said. “He has done that his whole career.”
At 29, Okamoto signed with the Blue Jays for four years and US$60-million as a free agent during the off-season. He looked fresh on his first full day with the club despite flights that took him from Japan to Houston to Tampa on Thursday,
“I couldn’t wait to get here,” Okamoto said after taking some ground balls at third. “Today I’m just trying to get to know everybody and find my way around. It has been a lot, but good so far.”
Okamoto said he has dreamed about playing in the major leagues for many years.
“As soon as I had success in Japan, about when I was 22, I started thinking about coming here,” he said through his interpreter. “From that time on it was my goal. It is the biggest stage and the best league in the world.”
Jesus Sanchez, whom Toronto obtained on Friday in a deal with Houston for fellow outfielder Joey Loperfido, also joined the club on Saturday and raised eyebrows in his first turn in the batting cage.
Sanchez, a finely sculpted 6 foot 4 and 222 pounds, smashed a 496-foot home run for the Miami Marlins at Colorado in 2022, and hit one 508 feet in Triple-A the year before.
“I am very happy to be here and grateful for the opportunity,” Sanchez, who is from the Dominican Republic, said through team translator Hector (Tito) Lebron. “I heard a few rumours the Blue Jays were interested in me but you hear rumours all the time.
“When I heard the news I knew I was going to a very great organization. I have worked very hard for this moment.”
Sanchez batted .237 with the Astros and Marlins last season with 14 home runs and 48 runs batted in. He bats left-handed and was platooned, which will happen in Toronto, too.
A small army of Japanese journalists have arrived in Dunedin this week to cover Okamoto with many more expected before spring-training games start on Feb. 21. It says something about his status overseas.
With help from his interpreter, he answered questions from the media in English first and then answered queries separately in Japanese.
He does not seem nervous of the possibility that the jump to playing in North America is too big for him.
“I was born in Japan so one challenge is the changing environments,” he said. “I was born in Japan so I have to get used to the lifestyle here.
“After that I think I will be fine.”
The Blue Jays are better equipped now to help foreign players adjust than when lefty pitcher Yusei Kikuchi joined the club in 2022. By then he had pitched in Seattle for three years but struggled with the adjustments.
“If you go back five or six years, our knowledge of how to make the transition easier is better,” Schneider said. “It’s a big jump coming to the big leagues. You are leaving everything you know. It’s a whole different world.
“In talking to Kazuma, it’s been a pretty normal ramp up to this season. He has been doing everything he needs to do back home. I’m just looking forward to seeing him every day.”