{"id":581904,"date":"2026-02-19T23:35:25","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T23:35:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/581904\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T23:35:25","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T23:35:25","slug":"kazuma-okamoto-to-make-toronto-blue-jays-spring-training-debut-saturday-with-defence-a-focus-in-camp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/581904\/","title":{"rendered":"Kazuma Okamoto to make Toronto Blue Jays Spring Training debut Saturday, with defence a focus in camp"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Toronto Blue Jays<\/a> have finally gotten an in-person glimpse of one of their top off-season acquisitions, Kazuma Okamoto, with Spring Training underway in Dunedin, Fla.<\/p>\n

The 29-year-old, power-hitting third baseman, who has carved out a successful career playing in Japan\u2019s professional baseball league, the NPB, signed a four-year, $60 million deal to join the Blue Jays in January.<\/p>\n

Okamoto hit at least 30 home runs in six consecutive seasons playing with the Yomiuri Giants from 2018-23, and is a career .274 hitter over 1,377 games in Japan.<\/p>\n

Now, after hearing about everything Okamoto can do over this off-season, Blue Jays coaches and players have gotten a chance to see it in person.<\/p>\n

The common question asked of NPB transplants is whether they will be able to handle state-side pitching, but Blue Jays manager John Schneider is focused on the defensive side of things for Okamoto.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere he\u2019s playing depth-wise, the speed of the game, how guys are getting down the line and how he can approach the ball being hit a little bit harder there, that\u2019s what we\u2019re looking for in spring,\u201d Schneider said, per MLB.com\u2019s Keegan Matheson<\/a>. \u201c[Third-base coach] Carlos [Febles] has a pretty good plan with him. If you see him taking ground balls at short, he\u2019s not going to play short, but that\u2019s for a reason. It\u2019s to get some range and play him a little bit deeper.\u201d<\/p>\n

Okamoto has a reputation overseas for being a strong defender at third base, but the coaching staff wants to see how his arm strength translates to the major leagues, especially given the number of dangerous right-handed power bats in the American League.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel that [Okamoto\u2019s] arm is more than serviceable to play a little bit deeper,\u201d Schneider said.<\/p>\n

Arm strength will be a primary comparison point for Okamoto against Addison Barger<\/a>, who started 67 games at third base for the team in 2025, including five starts in the postseason at the hot corner. <\/p>\n

Other players with experience at third on the 40-man roster include Ernie Clement<\/a> and Ben Cowles<\/a>, who was acquired off waivers from the Chicago Cubs<\/a> earlier in the week, but Okamoto figures to slot in as the starter in that spot once the regular season begins.<\/p>\n

The Blue Jays will get their first look in live game action on Saturday in their Grapefruit League opener as Okamoto is expected to start at third base, where Schneider said that he will see \u201cthe lion\u2019s share\u201d of his time.<\/p>\n

After falling in Game 7 of the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a> in November, the Blue Jays overhauled their starting rotation and added a pitcher to the back end of the bullpen, but their changes to the batting order were minor outside of adding Okamoto and losing shortstop Bo Bichette<\/a> to free agency.<\/p>\n

Bichette signed with the New York Mets<\/a> on a three-year deal worth $126 million after hitting .311 with 18 home runs in 2025, leaving a hole at the top of the batting order. <\/p>\n

While it would be unfair to expect Okamoto to replicate Bichette\u2019s production right off the hop, Schneider has high expectations after seeing Okamoto in camp so far.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cool thing about him is how he fits our approach to a T. There\u2019s contact, and there\u2019s damage,\u201d Schneider said. \u201cIt\u2019s about picking spots where to do that and understanding where you fit in throughout the lineup. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we look at it, he\u2019ll be somewhere in the middle. Righty or lefty on the mound and whoever we\u2019re facing, guys slide up and down, but his skillset with the ability to both drive the ball and make contact is why we acquired him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Okamoto will get a lot of work in at camp before he departs to participate in the World Baseball Classic for Team Japan, who he helped win the title in 2023. Per Matheson, Okamoto is currently penciled in to start at third base on Saturday against the Philadelphia Phillies<\/a>, as well as on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 26.<\/p>\n

Okamoto hit a home run in an instant classic 3-2 victory for Japan over the United States in the WBC final.<\/p>\n

The Blue Jays open their regular season at home against the Athletics<\/a> on Mar. 27.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Toronto Blue Jays have finally gotten an in-person glimpse of one of their top off-season acquisitions, Kazuma…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":581905,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2378],"tags":[30173,5,377,2554,4,282,70,46737,2553],"class_list":{"0":"post-581904","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-toronto-blue-jays","8":"tag-apple-news","9":"tag-baseball","10":"tag-blue-jays","11":"tag-bluejays","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-toronto","14":"tag-toronto-blue-jays","15":"tag-toronto-blue-jays-sports-baseball-team-team-statscom-238","16":"tag-torontobluejays"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116099922357570095","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=581904"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581904\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/581905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=581904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=581904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=581904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}