The Blue Jays offensive issues persisted on Monday night, but Okamoto continues to be a bright spot.
After getting shut out by the Seattle Mariners in the final two games of their weekend series, the Toronto Blue Jays saw their offensive swoon continue on Monday night, as they were pummeled 10-1 by the San Francisco Giants.
The Blue Jays are 1-3 in their last four games, and they've scored just three total runs in that time. While injuries and the exit of Bo Bichette in free agency are part of it, this is a far cry from the dynamic offense that we saw in 2025 that led the Blue Jays to the World Series.
At 42-49, the Jays are now 3.5 games back of the third and final wild card spot in the American League, and they are 11.5 games back of the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East.
They look closer to deadline sellers than playoff contenders at this point.
But while the losses are mounting, there is one bit of good news: Rookie Kazuma Okamoto continues to perform as advertised. He was responsible for the only run of the game in Monday's loss - a solo home run. It was his 20th of the season, which put him in some exclusive company in franchise history.
As noted by StatsCentre, he's the fifth Blue Jays rookie to ever have 20 in a season, joining Eric Hinske (24), JP Arencibia (23), Rowdy Tellez (21) and Fred McGriff (20). Presuming he stays healthy the rest of the way, he should end the year at the top of that list.
Okamoto was just named the American League Rookie of the Month in June.
Signed to a four-year deal out of Japan this winter, the 30-year-old is hitting .235 with 20 homers and 55 RBIs. His power has been necessary for a lineup that has seen a power regression from Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the departure of Bichette, and injuries to Anthony Santander and Addison Barger.
He had six seasons of 30 homers or more in Japan before signing with Toronto.
Also in the news
After making a rehab start on Friday night at High-A Vancouver, Max Scherzer now has the date of his next rehab start.
Up next
The Blue Jays and Giants will hit the field again on Tuesday night with first pitch coming at 9:45 p.m. ET. San Francisco has also been an underwhelming team (38-52) and they'll send right-hander Trevor McDonald to the mound.
McDonald is 3-6 with a 4.42 ERA. He's registered 50 strikeouts thus far.
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