Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Kazuma Okamoto: ‘Want to give my all for this team’
Photo credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn
Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Kazuma Okamoto has arrived.
Kazuma Okamoto homered for the second consecutive game on Saturday, while Andrés Giménez added a two-run single to help lift the Toronto Blue Jays to a 5-3 win over the Cleveland Guardians.
Just one day after crushing a 430-foot home run over the Flight Deck in center field, Okamoto followed it up with another blast, this one traveling 425 feet into the elevated section above the batter’s eye.
“That’s a big boy homer,” manager John Schneider told reporters in his postgame presser.
The home run marked Okamoto’s third in his last six games, a stretch that reflects his growing comfort at the plate about a month into the season.
Here’s what attracted the Blue Jays to Kaz Okamoto in the vetting process. Okamoto with his 3rd homer in the last 6 games, HR(5)
We’re now seeing him fully open up his swing, tapping into the power generated by his lower body and core, something that wasn’t as consistent earlier in the year.
15 of Okamoto's 21 hits & 4 of his 5 Home Runs have come on four-seam fastballs.
This is the version of Okamoto that routinely hit 30-plus home runs during six straight seasons with the Yomiuri Giants in Japan, and it’s a level of production he’s capable of reaching in Major League Baseball.
He contributed in multiple ways on Saturday, adding a single and drawing a bases-loaded walk.
Combined with a sharp defensive play at third base earlier in the game, it was one of his most complete performances in the majors so far.
Schneider has remained steadfast in his support of Okamoto, consistently backing the Japanese star through early-season struggles.
Schneider emphasized that it’s “unfair” to expect immediate replication of Okamoto’s success in Japan, instead urging patience as he adapts to a new league and environment.
Over the past two games, that patience is beginning to pay off according to Schneider.
“He’s going to hit. I’m going to say that for the entire time he’s here because he has tremendous skills,” Schneider said Friday. “I think he has an understanding of how he’s being hit. You don’t see a lot of balls go up in the [Flight Deck]. He’s got a ton of raw power.”
Amid a turbulent start to the 2026 season, this type of performance is exactly what the Blue Jays need, a controlled, confident offensive approach that dictates the game rather than reacting to it.
Saturday’s 5-3 win over Cleveland wasn’t flashy, but that’s precisely what made it effective.
Looking ahead, left-hander Patrick Corbin (0-0, 3.68 ERA) is expected to start Sunday for Toronto against Guardians right-hander Slade Cecconi (0-3, 6.20 ERA).
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