Blue Jays

Munenori Kawasaki is making fun of me.

The Star has hired a Japanese translator so we can properly interview the Blue Jays’ new shortstop, and though he’s been with the big-league club just a handful of games — and could conceivably be gone again after a few more — he’s already mocking my clumsy, stilted questions.

“No, I’m serious,” he says, eyes stretched comically wide while affecting a soldier’s stiff back. “I’m always serious — Japanese style. I’m serious like a samurai.”

Then he begins to giggle mischievously.

Generally speaking, when minor-league call-ups are interviewed by the media, it doesn’t go like this. They tend to offer polite banalities, careful not to ruffle any feathers or in any way jeopardize their precarious hold on a big-league job.

But ever since he arrived from Triple-A Buffalo to replace the injured Jose Reyes, Kawasaki has been a breath of fresh air for the Jays, one of the few pleasant surprises in what has so far been a disappointing start to the season.

He can’t replace Reyes, but his fun-loving energy can only help a club that has looked tight in the early-going.

“We knew he was a good solid player, but he’s really given us a big boost with his enthusiasm,” Jays manager John Gibbons said Thursday. “He’s a lot like the guy he’s replacing in terms of the energy, the enthusiasm and the way people react to him.”

On the field, Kawasaki is fidgety and cartoonish, bending and bouncing with every play.

He attacks ground balls, bows at his teammates’ accomplishments and has become the team’s most energetic cheerleader. He’s a GIF-maker’s dream.

He has also quickly become a fan favourite.

On Wednesday night as he stepped up to the plate for his third at-bat, pockets of the Rogers Centre crowd were chanting his name: “Kawa-saki! Kawa-saki!”

As the starting lineup was introduced on Thursday, the cheers for Kawasaki were as loud as they were for R.A. Dickey.

He says he was “too focused” to hear the crowd on Wednesday night. But as he says this he laughs and winks at locker-mater Ramon Ortiz.

So, does he enjoy the attention?

“No,” he says. “I’m really shy.”

Again, he can’t keep a straight face for long.

Every part of Kawasaki’s personality seems to run counter to stereotypical Japanese stoicism.

“From 6 years old I was like that,” he says of his high-energy style of play.

Did it ever rub any coaches or teammates the wrong way?

“A thousand times I was told to calm down,” he says, laughing. “My father, my brother, coaches. ... But I forgot as soon as they told me.”

As far as the Jays are concerned, they love him.

“He’s an unbelievable guy,” said reliever Aaron Loup. “He just immediately brings a little bit more life to the team. Just a lot of energy.”

“My favourite player!” wrote J.P. Arencibia this week on Twitter, with a picture of Kawasaki.

Kawasaki, 31, is the fourth Japanese player in Blue Jays history. He played 12 seasons for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league, where he was an eight-time all-star and two-time Gold Glove winner. He was also a member of Japan’s championship-winning World Baseball Classic teams in 2006 and 2009.

Like a lot of Japanese ballplayers, Kawasaki grew up idolizing Ichiro Suzuki, with whom he played on the Seattle Mariners last season.

“He was a baseball hero,” Kawasaki says.

Ichiro, now a member of the New York Yankees, will visit the Rogers Centre on Friday as the Jays battle their divisional rivals in a three-game series.

“I’m very excited,” Kawasaki said.

In five games with the Jays this season, Kawasaki has looked sharp in the field, while hitting .364 with a .500 on-base percentage. As a slap hitter with virtually no power he’s not going to get many extra-base hits, but he’s so far proved a tough out. Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos loves how he grinds at-bats, like the 11-pitch walk he worked against the White Sox on Wednesday.

But what may be most valuable to the Jays right now is his infectious energy.

Asked to define his style of play in his own words, he said he simply tries to have as much fun as possible on the field. He doesn’t worry much about what fans think of him.

“The only thing I hope the fans do is just enjoy it and shout, even bad things,” he said. “Just release their stress, just drink beer and watch the games. If I was a baseball fan I would just drink beers and shout during the game.”

Here he mimes chugging a beer with each hand while yelling at an imagined ballgame in front of him.

“Life is short, so why not just enjoy the game?”