TORONTO -- Kazuma Okamoto has perfected the art of the first impression.
Everything about Okamoto’s big league debut got more impressive by the inning. By the bottom of the ninth, he was racing home to score the winning run on a walk-off single from Andrés Giménez, celebrating his first win, 3-2, in Major League Baseball with his new teammates. Along the way, Okamoto also recorded his first and second career MLB hits and scored the first run of the Blue Jays’ 2026 season.
Welcome to the big leagues.
“The fans are so great here,” Okamoto said through interpreter Yusuka Oshima. “They’re great in Tokyo, but today was even louder, it felt. I felt their support right from the get-go today. That was awesome.”
The sellout crowd of 42,728 Blue Jays fans gave Okamoto a standing ovation as he first stepped to the plate, recognizing the magnitude of the moment for the Japanese star who chose Toronto after so many years starring in Japan’s NPB with the Yomiuri Giants. Okamoto signed a four-year, $60 million deal with the Blue Jays this offseason, and we quickly learned in Spring Training just how big a deal that was back in his home country.
The Japanese media presence around the Blue Jays has been remarkable to watch. In the early days of camp, there were often 10-15 reporters from Japanese outlets following Okamoto’s every move. On Friday afternoon, John Schneider’s pregame meeting with the media, which is typically held in his office, had to be moved down the hall to the larger press conference room to fit everyone.
“I’m just happy for him,” Schneider said. “That’s really, really cool. The guys are happy for him, too. I’m sure there were some nerves there, too, but I was really impressed with the way he played his game. He understands what we’re doing here. I sound a little bit giddy, but this is a guy who just fits into what we’re doing here. Today was a perfect example.”
Back in Japan, where it was late in the morning, many of Okamoto’s old teammates were watching on. He was one of the faces of that organization, which has such a rich history in Japan.
While the ovation for Okamoto carried on, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. bounced out of the dugout to retrieve that first-hit ball for his new teammate. Guerrero was beaming as he scampered down the dugout stairs, where he handed the ball to MLB’s authenticator to make it official. As usual, Guerrero pretended to throw the ball into the crowd first, one of his favorite recurring gags.
Guerrero and Okamoto have already struck up a strong relationship, right down to their own handshake -- which ends in a bow. When Okamoto was in camp with the Blue Jays, both before and after his time with Japan at the World Baseball Classic, Guerrero stuck right alongside him, even spending some additional one-on-one time with Okamoto working on fielding drills.
“He’s going to help us a lot,” Guerrero said through interpreter Hector LeBron. “He’s a great player, a great human being. He’s going to help us a lot with his hitting, but on the defensive side, as well.”
This is just the beginning for Okamoto. The Blue Jays didn’t bring Okamoto to Toronto just to fit in, they brought him here to move this organization forward, bullish on the talent of a slugging corner infielder who hit 30-plus home runs six consecutive times in Japan, including a 41-homer season in 2023.
Okamoto’s entire Major League career is still stretched out in front of him, but on Day 1, some of those “firsts” are out of the way, and it’s already easy to see why the Blue Jays love him.