DUNEDIN, Fla. – Jesus Sanchez has a big smile and bigger power, and the new Toronto Blue Jays outfielder believes the joy behind his wide grin is the fuel that helps him hit baseballs hard and far.
“My power is natural,” the 28-year-old said through interpreter Hector Lebron on Saturday, the day after being acquired from the Houston Astros for Joey Loperfido. “But in order for that (to work), I feel like I have to be very relaxed, to have fun. That’s why you’re going to see me smiling and having fun all the time. I use that more as preparation for my at-bats. I think I get all my strength from that, when I’m feeling very relaxed.”
Sanchez’s outward exuberance made for an interesting contrast to Kazuma Okamoto, the hard-hitting former Yomiuri Giants star signed for $60 million over four years, who reported for work carrying a low-key cool and dry wit.
Asked what he was like off the field, he deadpanned through interpreter Yusuke Oshima that, “I’m very serious and very manly. Yeah. I think I could say that about myself,” and after letting the line land, putting his head down and cracking up.
The Blue Jays, of course, need more than just vibes from the duo, who will be counted on for production in a lineup that lost Bo Bichette and won’t get the lift Anthony Santander was expected to provide before shoulder surgery removed him from the mix.
“We want these guys to hit the ball hard,” said manager John Schneider. “That was the first message we gave Sanch. Okamoto’s been doing that for his entire career, so that’s what we want him to do. There’s going to be some risk-reward with both of them. But I know (hitting coach David Popkins) is enthused with how they both work, how their bodies move, how their swings work and just the awareness they have.”
Coming over from Japan, where he hit 277 homers over parts of 11 seasons with the Giants, Okamoto is a fresh challenge for big-league arms.
Sanchez, on the other hand, is a familiar one, and they know to be wary of making a mistake like Ryan Feltner did on May 30, 2022, when he threw a slider belt high but in off the plate and watched it sail 496 feet into the third-deck bar at Coors Field.
Blue Jays reliever Tommy Nance, Sanchez’s teammate at the time, remembers watching the drive from the Marlins bullpen and, “we were all awed.”
Sanchez smiles at the memory and relays that, “to be honest, I didn’t feel anything when I hit that ball. My teammates, they were amazing. Everybody was surprised. Even myself after I hit it. Wow. I didn’t even think it was that long. But I didn’t feel anything when I hit it.”
The only home run he’s hit further that he knows of came on June 12, 2021 with triple-A Jacksonville against visiting Norfolk, when he crushed a Kyle Bradish breaking ball 508 feet right out of VyStar Ballpark.
Sanchez brushed off the merits of the drive, saying, “that was in the minors, I want to do that in the big-leagues,” and well, the Blue Jays are down, even if it means living with that risk-reward Schneider mentioned.
Over 580 big-league games, Sanchez has 73 homers and 538 strikeouts for a 26.1 strikeout rate, while with Okamoto, his career strikeout percentage of 18.3 is about to be tested by big-league pitching.
His offence is expected to transition well to the North American game, leaving his defence at third base, where the Blue Jays aim to primarily use him, the bigger question. A focal point at camp before he leaves for the World Baseball Classic at the end of the month will be on getting him as many reps as possible at the hot corner and helping him to adjust to the North American game.
“We’ve identified a few things we’ve relayed to him in terms of where he’s playing depth-wise, the speed of the game, how guys are getting down the line, how we can approach the ball being hit maybe a little bit harder here,” said Schneider. “Carlos (Febles, the infield coach) has a pretty good plan with him in place already. … We want to see what he’s comfortable with and then apply what we think is going to be good for him, too.”
Okamoto wants the challenge, one he said he’s been thinking about since he first started having success with Yomiuri as a 22-year-old, when he hit 33 homers with 100 RBIs while batting .309/.394/.541.
“That’s when I started making coming over to the major leagues my goal,” he explained.
“It’s obviously the biggest stage. It’s the best league in the world,” he replied. “So I wanted to come over and give it a shot.”
And now here is the Blue Jays counting on him and Sanchez to deliver some punch, each in their own way.
Source link
#Blue #Jays #counting #Okamoto #Sanchez #hit #ball #hard
