saying he has not been able to adjust to \u201cthe American lifestyle.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0Toronto\u2019s third baseman described his initial big-league experience in different terms.<\/p>\n\u201cFor me, personally, I\u2019m looking forward to each and every day,\u201d Okamoto said through his interpreter. \u201cThat\u2019s why I came over here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Toronto, Okamoto said, reminds him of Tokyo. He looks out his window when the Jays are at home and wonders if he\u2019s back in Japan. The former Nippon Professional Baseball star has particularly enjoyed trying different cuisines, too, with sandwiches and quesadillas being his favourites, so far.<\/p>\n
Despite his relatively cold start at the plate, Okamoto chuckled at times when discussing his first 15 MLB games. Still, he and the Jays expected better results.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just have to make adjustments,\u201d Okamoto said.<\/p>\n
The pitching he\u2019s facing is noticeably different than what he saw in NPB, Okamoto said. The average big-league fastball is around 4 mph faster and pitches often move more, Okamoto explained. A few weeks into his time with the Jays, though, the third baseman is beginning to get a good idea how opposing pitchers are attacking him.<\/p>\n
Okamoto has largely flourished against fastballs, notching 10 of his 13 hits off four-seamers, sinkers and cutters. His struggles have come against breaking and off-speed offerings, against which he is hitting .188 and .000, respectively.<\/p>\n
On defence, Okamoto has graded out as a well-below-average third baseman in Outs Above Average. He and the Jays continue to work before games to achieve more success at the hot corner. On Wednesday, four Toronto coaches gathered at first base as Okamoto worked on scoops, stepping into a lunge over and over.<\/p>\n
Okamoto is adjusting to playing deeper at third base and communicating with teammates who don\u2019t speak the same first language. In Tuesday\u2019s win over the Brewers, Okamoto ranged to his left and deflected a ball that shortstop Andr\u00e9s Gim\u00e9nez appeared prepared to catch. The third baseman seemed to apologize to the shortstop after the game. Gim\u00e9nez said Wednesday afternoon it\u2019s been fun playing alongside Okamoto, as they work through communication together.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re working on it. We\u2019re working on it,\u201d Gim\u00e9nez said. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to find the right communication.\u201d<\/p>\n
Okamoto began his big-league career with four hits in his first three contests. For a brief weekend, it seemed as if he\u2019d adjusted instantly. But struggles were to be expected. The Jays signed the third baseman for four years, not four weeks. With Okamoto seemingly set as the team\u2019s everyday third baseman, the Jays and Okamoto hope the tweaks start to click soon.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing in the lineup,\u201d Okamoto said, \u201cI feel responsible. I want to contribute to this team and be able to hit.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MILWAUKEE \u2014 Everything is new for Kazuma Okamoto. Each park he goes to presents an unfamiliar batter\u2019s eye…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":676591,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2378],"tags":[5,377,2554,4,282,70,2553],"class_list":{"0":"post-676590","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-toronto-blue-jays","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-blue-jays","10":"tag-bluejays","11":"tag-mlb","12":"tag-toronto","13":"tag-toronto-blue-jays","14":"tag-torontobluejays"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116411600961926452","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676590","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=676590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676590\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/676591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=676590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=676590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=676590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}