The infielder, signed to a four-year, $60 million deal, has been exactly what the Blue Jays desired when they signed him this offseason.
If you look at the batting average (.232), you might not be overly impressed with what Kazuma Okamoto has done this season for the Toronto Blue Jays.
But you should be. Okamoto, signed to a four-year, $60 million deal in the offseason, has been just about everything the Blue Jays could have asked for. He's got 30 homers, 83 RBIs and a .756 OPS. In the wake of injuries to Anthony Santander and Addison Barger, as well the departure of Bo Bichette and the power outage from Vladimir Guerrero Jr., he's essentially carried the offense from a slugging perspective.
And he's done it all against pitchers he's never seen and never heard of, in a country he's never lived in, on a continent he's never lived in either. For a team that had expectations of getting back to the World Series for the second consecutive year.
None of that is easy, and all of that is impressive.
Okamoto hit 30 homers or more six times in Japan and he hasn't stopped just because he's in North America now. And with a year of MLB service under his belt, it's highly probable that he'll be able to increase his on-base percentage (.306) and decrease his strikeout rate (29.7 percent) in 2027.
Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Kazuma Okamoto (7) acknowledges the bullpen while running the bases after hitting a solo home run against Athletics starting pitcher Jack Perkins (not pictured) during the second inning at Sutter Health Park. Dennis Lee-Imagn ImagesAnd if you pair him with a healthy Santander with a healthy Barger, and a hopeful bounce back season from Guerrero, now you're talking about a lineup that can really compete again next season - whatever next season looks like.
Of note for the Blue Jays
Most of the league is off on Thursday, including the Jays and the Cleveland Guardians. As a result, Toronto will stay one game back of Cleveland for the third and final wild card spot in the American League. However, the Texas Rangers are in action against the Seattle Mariners. If Texas loses, then Toronto would pick up a 0.5 game on them to be one full game ahead of them. Should Texas win, they'd pull into a tie with the Blue Jays as well. (UPDATE, Texas has lost, moving them 1.0 GB of the Jays and 2.0 back of Cleveland).
Up next
The Jays will kick off a weekend series against the Baltimore Orioles on Friday night at Rogers Centre. The O's have lost seven of their last 10 games to fall to 71-76. They are only three games back in the wild card race so this is a big series for them as well. It basically decides their season, at least from a negative perspective.
