PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- From former players to famous fans, guest instructors are a familiar element of Spring Training across Major League Baseball. But few teams welcome a special guest quite like the Rays did on Thursday, when they temporarily added a champion manager to Kevin Cash’s coaching staff.

The new face in camp was Japanese skipper and executive Hideki Kuriyama, who soaked in Rays camp by more or less shadowing Cash before, during and after Tampa Bay’s 3-2 win over the Phillies at Charlotte Sports Park.

“I was fortunate to get to talk to him,” Cash said after the game. “We talked about players, in-game strategy, how to prepare. There are differences, but there are also a lot of similarities, too.”

One of Japan’s most accomplished skippers, Kuriyama is a longtime admirer of the way the Rays run their organization, and brokered the visit through senior advisor Jon Daniels, who forged a relationship with Kuriyama during his tenure as the Rangers’ general manager over the last decade.

“It is cool,” Cash said. “He should probably manage the game, we might have a better chance of winning.”

The respect clearly runs both ways, back from the Rays to Kuriyama, for all he’s accomplished in the game. The 62-year-old managed the Nippon-Ham Fighters from 2012-21, winning a Japanese Series title in 2016. He also led Japan to a World Baseball Classic title in 2023, currently serves as Nippon-Ham’s chief baseball officer and is a mentor to many Japanese big leaguers, including Shohei Ohtani.

Kuriyama was also integral to the creative deal that landed right-hander Naoyuki Uwasawa in Rays camp this spring. A non-roster invitee who has a chance to crack Tampa Bay’s pitching staff, Uwasawa spent his entire career in Japan with Nippon-Ham, playing his first nine seasons under Kuriyama.

“He’s always on the players’ side, trying to make an environment where players can excel,” Uwasawa said, through translator Taishi Terashima. “He’s a great baseball guy, but more importantly, he’s a great human being. I’ve always looked up to him.”

Added Cash: “He’s so well-respected in that country … Uwasawa raved about him, so I was excited to shake his hand.”

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The Rays opened their clubhouse and dugout doors to Kuriyama, who then attended meetings all morning with the team’s front office and field staff, soaking up all he could. He wore a No. 89 jersey and full uniform during the game, explaining the number is an intentional homage to baseball in Japan.

Kuriyama’s admiration for and interest in how the Rays do business stems from the way he thinks about the game. He’s considered one of his home country's most forward-thinking managers, and a pioneer of analytically driven strategies like openers and defensive shifting in NPB.

He said one of his biggest takeaways from Thursday’s experience was an insight into how the Rays develop their staff members.

“I always wanted to see what the Rays have been doing in terms of creating a winning culture,” said Kuriyama, through Terashima. “That was something I always thought about when I was managing, so that was something I wanted to learn from these guys today.”

Asked to summarize his baseball philosophy, Kuriyama confirmed the personnel-first approach that Uwasawa described and deeply respects in his former manager.

“Have faith in players,” Kuriyama said. “That’s my mentality. Players are the ones who go out there and compete, and they’re the ones who are trying to win.”