Munenori Kawasaki: Fun With Photo Captioning

I started this Fun With Photo Captioning series on a whim. I thought it would be fun and a good way for our readers to flex their creative muscles. We started with Marcus Stroman and Russell Martin deep in conversation. We then went to Jose Reyes embracing The Captain, Derek Jeter.

With Spring Training under way now, there will be no shortage of photos to choose from for this series. For example, today’s came from the Blue Jays Official Twitter account. It depicts Munenori Kawasaki in what looks like to be an equipment room in Dunedin. We thought this one would be fun to create our own captions for considering just how quote worthy and entertaining the Japanese born infielder can be.

Munenori Kawasaki was signed to a minor league deal this winter. He’ll come in to camp fighting for a job as a bench player on the 2015 roster. While he has an outside shot, he’ll be competing against the likes of Ryan Goins, Maicer Izturis and Steve Tolleson for the spot on the 25 man roster. What will likely happen is that he’ll head to AAA Buffalo, though. Of course, if you’ve been paying attention over the last couple years, you know that that stay probably won’t be very lengthy. With injuries and whatnot, we shouldn’t be surprised to see the fan favorite with the big league club this summer. 

Toronto Blue Jays

Of course, Blue Jays fans do not love Kawasaki for his bat. His .258 average last season was an improvement over the year before, but his slugging percentage was lower than his on base percentage. He’s not exactly a power guy. And, in giving him a nickname like “Noodle Arms” his Blue Jays teammates do not expect him to be. In fact, they know what fans know, that is that his OBP is actually fairly impressive. In 82 games last season, he managed an OBP of .327. Kawasaki grinds out at bats. He may not rip a screaming double down the line, or launch a majestic home run (his ONLY MLB home run just made it over the RF wall), but he will foul off pitch after pitch. He’ll choke up with 2 strikes and he’ll make his spot a tough out for the opposing pitcher.

His defense is passable for a game here or there. In fact, for his career at 3B, SS and 2B, he’s broken even in Defensive Runs Saved. He’s not going to win a Gold Glove, but again, he’ll work hard. He’s a reasonable injury call up. But, it’s what he does “off the field” but “on camera” that has endeared him to Blue Jays fans. He’s a character and embraces that role.

So, without further ado, let’s get to the fun. We’ve provided some of our own captions for this photo.

Kyle: “Let me tell you somethin’ brother…I’m Japaneeeessse”. Kyle thought this photo looked like Mune’s cover photo for his WWE application.

Doyle: “No, no. It’s OK. I have an invite.”

Eric: “Don’t worry, I won’t be here long.”

Jeff: “Hey hey hey….let me get this fish out of my pants….”

Craig: “Would you like a new hat from the Kawasaaaaaakkkkkki? Made in Buffalo, NY.”

Ryan: “Gibby you don’t need Goins, let ME foul off 10 pitches before grounding out to short.”

Justin: “I’m so popular around clubhouse, they put me in stock room to keep me with team!”

Doyle: “I just switched around ALL of the bats! Got heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeem!”

There you have it. Now it’s your turn. Leave your caption idea in the comment section!

Next: The Minor League Edition of our Jays Nest Podcast