That continued Friday when Okamoto hit his 22nd home run of the year, a three-run blast that tied Shohei Ohtani for the most hits by a Japanese rookie in MLB.
Okamoto gave the Blue Jays a burst of offense in San Diego against the Padres, hitting Joni Brito’s 2-2 sinker 377 feet over the left field wall.
Ohtani’s 22 hits came in 2018, when the future AL Rookie of the Year moved up to the majors with the Los Angeles Angels after five years with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball.
Okamoto’s move to the Blue Jays came after 11 years with the Yomiuri Giants, where he consistently ranked among the league leaders in home runs.
Now that Toronto is down to 22 players on its roster before the All-Star break arrives, Okamoto will be looking to continue putting his name on the rare circuit.
Okamoto is now two home runs away from the Blue Jays rookie record, currently held by Eric Hinske, who hit 24 in 2002.
The 30-year-old’s 22 hits before the All-Star break are the most by a Blue Jays player since Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s 28 and Marcus Semien’s 22 in 2021, and the best by a Toronto rookie in franchise history.
He won his first Grand Slam title on Wednesday in San Francisco.
Fellow Japanese rookie Munetaka Murakami returned to the Chicago White Sox lineup Friday night after being sidelined for more than a month with a right hamstring strain. He was named to the AL All-Star team and added to the field for the Home Run Derby in Philadelphia.
As for the all-time rookie record, it belongs to Pete Alonso, who scored 53 goals in the 2019 campaign.
— with files from The Associated Press