Making little noise

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Joel Pineiro looked up from his locker, glanced around the clubhouse, and had one piece of advice for fellow reliever Hideki Okajima: "Go home."

The spacious room, far larger than the clubhouse at Fenway Park, was nearly empty. Workouts at City of Palms Park had ended, with the spring training game being played across the state in Fort Lauderdale. The media crowd had been shuttled back to the press box. Only a few players were left and, as usual, the Red Sox' two Japanese players were among them.

It wasn't clear if Okajima understood the joke, the plea to avoid yet another reporter, the advice to have some fun outside of the ballpark. But that it was said, that the English- and Spanish-speaking Pineiro was talking to him at all, was important. Welcoming and wonderful and, for Okajima, entirely unexpected.

"Initially I wasn't really sure how it was going to go because I don't speak English very well," said the 31-year-old Okajima through an interpreter. "But everybody, really, everybody came to me and talked to me instead of me going out there and talking to them. They had the effort to come and talk to me, which is really rare. And some of them even tried to speak to me in Japanese some words and they also asked me how to say so-and-so in Japanese. I see it really clearly that they are really making the effort to communicate with me and that rarely happens in Japan. When we have foreign players from the US or anywhere, there's not much communication inside the clubhouse. [But] they've embraced me."

While the furor over Daisuke Matsuzaka dominated the headlines of two professional baseball leagues, he's not the only Japanese player to make the jump to the majors this season. Joining Okajima are pitchers Kei Igawa and Masumi Kuwata and third baseman Akinori Iwamura, players with various expectations but one thing in common -- lots of Japanese media documenting their every move.

Matsuzaka, with his $51 million posting fee and $52 million, six-year contract, is expected to be a potential ace for the Red Sox while the soon-to-be 39-year-old Kuwata, once the ace of the Yomiuri Giants, was hurt late in spring training but was likely slated to begin the season with the Pittsburgh Pirates' Triple A club. And then there's Igawa and Iwamura, who could have an impact on the AL East race.

Igawa, a 27-year-old lefthander, appears slated for the fifth spot in the Yankees' rotation after posting a 2.65 ERA in 17 spring training innings. The Yankees have $46 million ($26 million posting fee, $20 million contract) invested in Igawa, who went 14-9 with a 2.97 ERA for the Hanshin Tigers last year.

Third baseman Iwamura, 28, has struggled this spring (.184 average, no homers in 49 at-bats) but Devil Rays manager Joe Maddon has remained in his corner. Iwamura was a five-time All-Star and six-time Gold Glove winner in Japan who commanded a small posting fee ($4.5 million).

Kuwata, the former national hero, won't make a major impact in the majors, but in coming to the United States is fulfilling a dream he has harbored for most of his career. Invited to Pittsburgh's camp as a non-roster player, Kuwata is nearing the end of his distinguished career, but he might be ticketed for a call-up to the Pirates at some point this season.

But it's clear that Matsuzaka will be the focal point this season, and Okajima, a career reliever, happily will play a supporting role.

"Even back in Japan I was the one who was supporting the starting pitcher," Okajima said. "I was never in the real big spotlight. I was always sort of in the shadow. That role really suits me well, and I really like it. I'm a non-hero, but I'm a hero in the shadow, and I'm fine with it."

Okajima will have to make adjustments, including pitching on shorter notice and making sure not to hang curveballs to major league hitters like Detroit's Ivan Rodriguez.

"He's realized that a curveball left in the middle of the plate is going to go a long way," Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell said of Rodriguez's homer March 10. "Both he and Daisuke are realizing that the strength in hitters here is more than the hitters they faced in Japan. And that's not just in the 3-4-5 holes in the lineup. That's 7-8-9 as well.

"I don't think we can underestimate some of the daily challenges they'll face just being in a different country, but Hideki is a smart person in general and one that's got a lot of baseball experience. Through our feedback, consistent communication, he'll be able to make those changes or make those slight adjustments to pitch effectively in the bullpen here."

Okajima also has been communicating with Kuwata, his teammate for a decade with the Yomiuri Giants, via a videoconferencing system this spring.

"I see his facial expression and if things are going well, I can tell," Okajima said. "If his spirits are down I can see that, too. [The] majority of it is non-technical stuff. It's more of mentality and psychological issues that he's given me advice on. He told me to play my style and play like I always do."

Kuwata said he believes Okajima will succeed.

"He can do it like in Japan," Kuwata said. "He is very tough, you know. Forty, 50 games he can pitch during the season. And he is tall and his breaking ball is a big breaking ball [curveball], so I think it works."

Okajima hopes so. He doesn't think he was signed by the Red Sox solely to be a sidekick to Matsuzaka, whom he didn't know before arriving in Fort Myers. Okajima remains committed to his own pitching, and to make the Red Sox realize he is more than just a one-batter specialist and the "other" Japanese pitcher in their clubhouse.

"The team has to know that they can count on me when I'm going against a lefthanded batter or righthanded batter," Okajima said. "I have to be the person, the pitcher who can be really trusted on a given occasion. Right now I really don't know what the team expects me or wants me to be. Right now I'm trying to gain their trust, that they can trust me 100 percent, so I can go and be that pitcher that they can count on."

Amalie Benjamin can be reached at abenjamin@globe.com.