Toronto Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins reflected on the rookie season for third baseman Kazuma Okamoto.
Coming over from Japan as a 29-year-old rookie in MLB is not an easy transition, but Okamoto has been a revelation for the Blue Jays.
The Gojo native leads the Blue Jays with 17 home runs, far and away the most on the team, ahead of George Springer, who is second with eight. He is also first in RBIs with 49, 16 more than second-place Andres Gimenez.
Okamoto’s .790 OPS also leads the Blue Jays, as does his 112 OPS+. And his 1.7 bWAR is the most of any position player on the Blue Jays, too.
Safe to say that Atkins has already gotten his ROI on Okamoto’s four-year, $60 million free-agent contract, one that is looking like an absolute steal right now given his numbers at the halfway mark of his rookie season.
Ross Atkins Comments on Kazuma Okamoto’s Rookie Season
Speaking to the “Blair & Barker” podcast, Atkins was asked what he thinks about Okamoto’s rookie season, and the Blue Jays GM raved about the job his third baseman has done.
“I can’t imagine being more impressed. We expected that his offense was going to have a little different shape with the adjustments made to different arsenals and different weapons being attacked by pitchers he’s never seen in his life in an entirely different league in different ballparks. Defensively, we expected the transition to be a little bit smoother. Having said that, he had been playing predominantly first base. So, he’s really exceeded our expectations, and they were high coming in. The teammate, the way he’s handled everything. Every foreign player is different in their transition into Major League Baseball, and his has been as good as I’ve ever seen,” Atkins said.
Ross Atkins chats with @SNJeffBlair and Kevin Barker about Kazuma Okamoto’s rookie season in Toronto.
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Kazuma Okamoto Could Be a Rookie All-Star
In the latest MLB All-Star Game voting update, Okamoto was second in the American League for this base with 1,282,884 votes, just behind Junior Caminero of the Tampa Bay Rays, who has 1,310,879.
It seems like Okamoto and Caminero will be the final two third basemen that make it to the next round of voting, so Okamoto will have a 50/50 shot of being voted an AL All-Star starter in his rookie season. But even if Caminero starts the game, Okamoto has a very good chance of being a reserve for the AL team at third base.
When the Blue Jays lost Bo Bichette to free agency this past offseason and signed Okamoto to take his place in the team’s lineup, no one knew how it would go.
But it’s fair to say that Okamoto has far exceeded expectations, and, so far, he looks like an absolute home run of a signing for Atkins and Co. in the Blue Jays’ front office.
There is still half the season left, but if the second half is anything like the first half, then Okamoto’s numbers at the end of his rookie MLB season are going to be massive, and he has a real chance to be in the mix for the AL Rookie of the Year award.
Ross Atkins Reflects on Kazuma Okamoto’s Rookie Season