Toronto Blue Jays infielder Kazuma Okamoto hit his 31st home run of the season at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada, on September 11.
The team lost 4-7 to the Baltimore Orioles, but Okamoto’s blast put him in a significant position on the single-season home run leaderboard for Japanese major leaguers.
The number 31 goes beyond his personal rookie record and also connects with the major league power-hitting records of Japanese players.
3-Line Summary
1. Kazuma Okamoto hit his 31st home run of the season
2. It is a tie for 7th among Japanese players
3. The Blue Jays lost 4-7
He took a center-cut sinker over the wall in the 4th inning, trailing by 6 runs
Okamoto started against the Orioles as the No. 6 hitter and third baseman. With the Blue Jays trailing 0-6, he came to the plate as the leadoff hitter in the 4th inning and, after a first-pitch ball, drove a center-cut sinker from opposing right-hander Chris Bassitt over the wall in right-center.
According to reports from Sports Hochi and Daily Sports, the ball traveled approximately 121–122m. Daily Sports reported that Okamoto also hit a double down the left-field line in the 6th inning to record a multihit game. Although the team’s loss meant the home run did not lead to a victory, it was a hit that became the starting point for a comeback attempt despite the large deficit.
31 home runs put him alongside Hideki Matsui
With this home run, Okamoto became tied with Munetaka Murakami for the most home runs among Japanese players in the 2026 season. In the same season, Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers was listed with 30 home runs.
In Sports Hochi’s compilation of Japanese players’ single-season major league totals of 30 or more home runs, 31 home runs is the same total as Hideki Matsui’s 2004 record and Murakami’s 2026 record. The key point of this record is that Okamoto matched Matsui’s personal high for home runs in his first major league season.
However, it remains some distance from the all-time high for Japanese players. Ohtani recorded 55 home runs in 2025 and 54 home runs in 2024, and he also hit 46 home runs in 2021. Rather than being the absolute pinnacle, 31 home runs can be viewed as one stage in the steadily accumulated achievements in the major league power-hitting records of Japanese hitters.
The club’s rookie home run record continued to grow
The two outlets reported that Okamoto continued to break the Blue Jays’ club record for most home runs by a rookie. Sports Hochi reported that he also reached 84 RBIs, the club’s rookie record for most RBIs.
Okamoto was absent from the starting lineup for a period in August because of a slump and a left-knee contusion, but he subsequently increased his home run total to 31. Even though the result of this one game was disappointing, it is clear that in his first major league season, he is changing both the club’s rookie records and the record book for Japanese players.
References
Tags #KazumaOkamoto #岡本和真 #BlueJays #TorontoBlueJays #MajorLeagueBaseball #MLB #31stHomeRun #JapaneseMajorLeaguer #HidekiMatsui #MunetakaMurakami #ShoheiOhtani #Orioles