This story was excerpted from Keegan Matheson’s Blue Jays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
TORONTO -- It feels like the rest of baseball is finally being let in on a secret that only the Blue Jays -- and the entire country of Japan -- have known.
Kazuma Okamoto is not just another ballplayer.
Okamoto’s MLB debut began with a standing ovation from his new home fans and ended with him racing home to score the winning run on Andrés Giménez’s walk-off single, a dream first impression. After the win, Okamoto stood in front of the Blue Jays’ media backdrop and faced a swarm of reporters, more than even some of the Blue Jays’ postseason games in 2025.
“I don’t think the industry knows what a big deal he is,” manager John Schneider said. “We do. There’s a lot more media here. He’s a pretty famous guy. To have our fans recognize that out of the chute was pretty cool and I’m sure that felt good for him. I’m usually waiting for the big cheers to be Trey [Yesavage], George [Springer], Vlad [Guerrero Jr.] ... Pete Walker [pitching coach] ... and then Kaz was right up there.”
Perhaps the numbers on Okamoto’s four-year, $60 million contract undersell him.
This isn’t Shohei Ohtani, but no one is. Comparing him to other Japanese stars, Yoshinobu Yamamoto still lives in his own tier and came to Major League Baseball younger than Okamoto, just like Roki Sasaki did to the Dodgers, but Okamoto is still one of the biggest names in Japanese baseball.
“He’s a dude. He’s big,” Schneider said. “It still surprised me a little bit. Getting to know him over Zoom and through translation, but then to see what he deals with every day? Damn, he’s got a lot going on, and rightfully so. Hopefully, he can just keep being Kaz.”
The media sensation captures this best. Plenty of days during Spring Training, there were more reporters and cameras from Japanese outlets than Canadian ones. Many days, it wasn’t even close.
Everywhere Okamoto went, reporters and cameras would follow him. Individually, he’s a star, but there’s also a deep sense of national pride attached to this, an entire country of baseball fans wanting to see one of their finest represent them well in Canada and the United States. The Blue Jays knew these waves of media attention were coming and have adapted well to it, so finally, it’s time for Okamoto’s game to do the talking.
“The guy can hit,” Schneider said.
For six consecutive seasons with the Yomiuri Giants, Okamoto launched 30-plus home runs and peaked at 41. That’s not where his manager’s mind goes, though.
“He’s such a good hitter,” Schneider said. “When you have 30-plus homers for a lot of your career, people think about the power, but he’s kind of like Vlad, where he’s a hitter before he’s a power hitter. He fits us. He takes his shots when he can and recognizes what a pitcher’s doing.”
Okamoto could become the ultimate moving piece for the Blue Jays, given that he can do a bit of everything. It’s not as simple as one lineup versus righties and one versus lefties, but to open the season, Okamoto has hit in the No. 7 spot against a right-hander on Friday and No. 4 against a lefty on Saturday.
Those are two very different roles, comparing providing a spark from the bottom third of the lineup to hitting behind Guerrero in the heart of the order. One of Okamoto’s great gifts is his ability to shift shapes, though, never fully selling out as a power hitter and never restraining himself as a contact guy.
“He understands what we’re doing here,” Schneider reiterated. “I sound a little bit giddy, but this is a guy who just fits into what we’re doing here.”
The challenges and cold streaks will come, as they do for everyone, but Okamoto has already shown enough to inspire a level of hope. There’s fascinating upside here -- even more than a $15 million annual salary suggests -- and he’s giving us glimpses of that reality.
Soon enough, the rest of the league will be forced to notice, too.