Kazuma Okamoto seems to be adapting well to Major League Baseball.

After a solid start to the 2026 season with the Toronto Blue Jays, Okamoto experienced a bit of a slump during April. However, he’s turned it around and has become one of the biggest bright spots for the Blue Jays in a tumultuous start to 2026.

While the Blue Jays’ offence has struggled, Okamoto has been one of their most productive hitters. His 10 home runs are double the number of any other Blue Jays player. He also leads the team in RBIs (27), slugging (.459), and OPS (.785).

Okamoto’s power is not a surprise. He hit at least 30 home runs in each of his six seasons with the Yomiuri Giants. Before the season, Okamoto was projected to hit around 20 home runs in 2026. There’s a good chance he surpasses that expectation, given that he’s halfway there and the Blue Jays just completed their first quarter of the season.

One of the biggest concerns for Okamoto at the beginning of the season was his strikeout rate. He leads the team with 52 strikeouts through 43 games. However, he is improving in that area. In his first 20 games, Okamoto boasted a 34.1 percent strikeout rate. Across his next 23, his strikeout rate dropped to 24 percent. That is much more in line with his stats from Japan. During his six seasons with the Giants, Okamoto’s highest strikeout rate was 21 percent during his sophomore season in 2021.

Okamoto’s walk rate has also increased from 9.4 percent in his first 20 games to 13.5 percent in his next 23. So far this season, Okamoto has the second-most walks on the Blue Jays (21), trailing only Vladimir Guerrero Jr. That has helped improve Okamoto’s on-base percentage from .292 on April 20 to .359 following the Blue Jays’ opening series loss to the Tigers.

A big reason for Okamoto’s offensive improvements is a change in his batting position. Okamoto has moved back in the batter’s box and closer to the plate. That’s given him extra time for his swing and helped him make better contact with outside pitches. Since changing his position in the batter’s box on April 18, Okamoto has hit eight home runs and 23 RBIs. That’s just two below the RBIs total for Andres Gimenez this season, which is second to Okamoto for the season.

Okamoto’s production did slow down somewhat against the Rays. He lost a ten-game hit streak in Tuesday’s 7-6 extra innings loss. He also didn’t record a hit in Wednesday’s 5-3 extra innings win. However, he hit an RBI sac fly in the eighth inning to tie the game at 1-1. In the tenth inning, he and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. walked, which loaded the bases for Daulton Varsho, who hit the fifth walk-off grand slam in Blue Jays history. He also had several nice defensive plays from third throughout the series.

There were many questions about how Okamoto would work defensively for the Blue Jays, and so far, he seems to be fitting in just fine. While he had experience as a third baseman, he spent much of his time at first base and a little time in left field. He’s not going to get many opportunities at first with the Blue Jays with Guerrero on the team.

Okamoto has been the everyday third baseman for the Blue Jays. Like his batting, Okamoto seems to be getting more and more comfortable at third as the season goes on. Not only has he been reliable, but he’s had his fair share of highlight-worthy plays.

It was expected that Okamoto would be the primary third baseman for the Blue Jays in 2026. However, the injuries to Addison Barger may have exacerbated that. Barger spent most of his time in 2025 at third base, though he also played right field. So far, Barger has only played nine games in 2026. That has left the Blue Jays with few options to cover third aside from Okamoto. Ernie Clement is the only other Blue Jay to spend time at third in 2026.

With Okamoto looking more and more comfortable at third each game and his increasing offensive reliability, it seems unlikely that the Blue Jays will move away from him as the everyday third baseman, except in the case of injuries or off days.

The early returns on Okamoto have been more than promising. He’s been the most effective part of the Blue Jays’ offence in the last month. During that span, the Blue Jays have mostly used him in the cleanup spot. At the beginning of the season, the Blue Jays seemed to want to slot Barger as their cleanup hitter. However, Okamoto has looked comfortable in that position while Barger has been injured.

If Okamoto maintains his strong form, having him bat cleanup could prevent opposing pitchers from throwing around Guerrero in the three-spot. Guerrero has been struggling offensively recently and still only has two home runs in 2026. While Guerrero has been slumping, it doesn’t help that he’s lacking protection in the lineup, without Barger, Alejandro Kirk, and Bo Bichette. Okamoto could provide some of that protection, which in turn could help Guerrero rediscover his power.

The early returns on Okamoto have been promising. After a slump in April, he looks much better adjusted to MLB and has become one of the best assets for the Blue Jays in May.

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