Welcome to The Show, Okamoto! Japanese icon hits first big league HR

TORONTO -- What a weekend for Kazuma Okamoto, the Japanese star who is taking over Toronto.

Okamoto launched his first Major League home run in the fourth inning Sunday, a 420-foot shot to right-center field that just kept carrying and carrying. In a weekend that’s been full of reasons to celebrate as the Blue Jays swept the A’s with Sunday’s 5-2 win, this was one of the biggest yet in the Blue Jays’ dugout.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. bounced out of the dugout immediately, watching his new teammate round the bases for the first time in the big leagues. Typically, it’s Vladdy’s job to handle the Blue Jays’ home run jacket, but he handed that off to Jesús Sánchez, who’d just hit his first home run with the Blue Jays the inning prior.

Instead, Guerrero waited right by the on-deck circle, making sure he was the first man Okamoto saw after he touched home. The two hit their trademark handshake, slapping hands together and bowing, before Okamoto got to slide on the jacket for the very first time.

“Vladdy is a guy I really look up to,” Okamoto said in his on-field interview, interpreted by Yusuke Oshima. “He’s been teaching me a lot and has taken me under his wing. It’s been awesome so far.”

Okamoto is off to an incredible start with the Blue Jays, shaking off any expectation that he might need time to settle in against an entire league full of new pitchers and new challenges. On Opening Day, Okamoto reached base three times and scored the game-winning run on Andrés Giménez’s walk-off single. He’s looked like he belongs defensively, too. It’s not even April yet, but the Blue Jays have to be thrilled with what they’re seeing already.

“I’m just really happy for him,” manager John Schneider said, “to get his feet underneath him the way he did this series. Hopefully, he can carry that going forward. That’s our team approach. We’re trying to out-team the other team. However you can be a part of that is what’s important to us and he fits that really, really well.”

The offensive upside has been evident since the day Okamoto walked into the Blue Jays’ complex this spring in Dunedin, Fla. He has the type of swing other players wish they had, something his teammates and members of his BP groups raved about throughout camp. This still needs to translate over 162 games -- not just the first three -- but all of the pieces are here.

“It’s just a very pretty swing,” said starter Eric Lauer. “It’s very quiet, very subtle, but then there’s an explosion off the bat. It’s a swing we love to see.”

The fan reaction has been fascinating to watch, too. Blue Jays fans seem to be recognizing, in real time, what a significant player Okamoto has been in Japan… and could be for the 2026 Blue Jays. Everywhere he goes, a dozen reporters and cameras follow. If the Blue Jays social media accounts simply write the words “Kazuma Okamoto,” it’s their most-liked post of the month. We’re watching a new phenomenon unfold in Toronto.

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“I don’t think the industry knows what a big deal he is,” Schneider said. “We do. There’s a lot more media here. He’s a pretty famous guy.”

We’re already seeing the different ways Okamoto can fit this lineup, too. After batting seventh on Opening Day, Okamoto hit second on Saturday and slid back to fifth for Sunday’s finale.

Playing in Japan’s NPB, Okamoto hit 248 career home runs, including six in a row with 30-plus and a peak season of 41. Finally, we’ve witnessed the first of many in the Majors.