Kazuma Okamoto

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Kazuma Okamoto (岡本 和真)

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Biographical Information[edit]

Kazuma Okamoto has been an All-Star slugger in Nippon Pro Baseball. Following the 2025 season, he was posted in order to play in Major League Baseball

Okamoto played for Japan in the 2014 Asian Junior Championship, his team finishing second. [1] The Yomiuri Giants took him in the first round of the 2014 NPB draft. [2] He hit .258/.307/.354 in the minor Eastern League that season (5th in the EL with 18 doubles) and was 6 for 28 with a homer and two walks with the big club. His first Central League at-bat came as a pinch-hitter for Hayato Takagi in late August; he was retired by Daisuke Sobue. [3] His first hit was a two-run pinch-hit homer, again batting for Takagi, off Yoshiki Sunada. [4] He fielded 23 chances error-free for the Giants, backing up Shuichi Murata at third base.

He was only 1 for 10 for the big club in 2016 but made good progress on the farm - .261/.341/.494, 18 HR, 74 RBI in 96 G. He tied Keiyo Aomatsu for 9th in the EL in doubles (18), tied for 2nd in triples (6), was 2nd in homers (4 behind Hotaka Yamakawa), led in slugging (.009 ahead of Toshitake Yokoo) and led in RBI (10 ahead of Yamakawa). [5] He played winter ball for the Gigantes de Carolina, batting .257/.344/.330 while fielding .948 as their main third baseman; his backup was Enrique Hernández. Yomiuri moved him to the outfield in 2017. Despite his fine '16, he again was mostly in the minors (.270/.338/.440, 23 2B, 55 RBI), hitting .194/.286/.226 in 35 plate appearances for the top team. He led the EL in doubles (two ahead of Taishi Hirooka) and was 4th in RBI.

Okamoto replaced long-time star Shinnosuke Abe at first base in 2018, as Abe was fading at age 39; Okamoto also played a fair bit of time at third or in the outfield when Abe was at first. He responded to the playing time very well, producing at a .309/.394/.541 clip with 82 runs, 26 doubles, 33 homers, 100 RBI and 72 walks. He was the youngest player in NPB history to drive in 100 runs and was the 4th Giant to hit 30+ homers the year they turned 22 (joining legends Sadaharu Oh, Hideki Matsui and Hayato Sakamoto). [6] He was the starting first baseman for the CL in 2018 NPB All-Star Game 1, hitting 8th. He grounded out against Yusei Kikuchi, Mike Bolsinger and Yuito Mori then whiffed against Hirotoshi Masui. [7] In Game 2, he replaced Tomotaka Sakaguchi in the field and Nori Aoki in the lineup. He struck out against Naoyuki Uwasawa then Kosuke Tanaka batted for him. [8] He finished the season among the CL leaders in home runs (6th, between Tetsuto Yamada and Seiya Suzuki), RBI (2nd, 31 behind Wladimir Balentien), slugging (7th, between Dayán Viciedo and Sakamoto) and OPS (8th, between Sakamoto and Balentien). He was 7th in voting for the 2018 CL MVP, between Viciedo and Shota Nakazaki. [9] He played for Japan in the 2018 Nichi-Bei Series; his homer off Junior Guerra was the only run Guerra allowed in five innings in the game in which Japan clinched the series. [10]

The young slugger started at third for the CL in 2019 NPB All-Star Game 1, going 0 for 3 before Shuhei Takahashi took over. [11] In Game 2, he batted for Takahashi late and was retired by Rei Takahashi. [12] He tailed off slightly in 2019 but had another big year overall - .265/.343/.485, 31 HR, 94 RBI, 62 BB, 84 R, 29 2B. He handled 720 chances error-free at 1B and fielded .965 at 3B. He was 6th in the league in runs, 7th in doubles, tied José López for 6th in dingers, tied Sakamoto for 4th in RBI, 7th in walks (between Munetaka Murakami and Aoki), 5th in total bases (292) and 10th in slugging (between Yoshihiro Maru and Murakami). He finished 6th in voting for the 2019 CL MVP, between Neftali Soto and Koji Chikamoto). [13] In the 2019 Japan Series, his two-out, 7th-inning single off Rei Takahashi ended his no-hit bid. His two-run homer off Robert Suárez in the 6th inning of Game 4 gave Yomiuri their first runs that day against the Softbank Hawks. He hit .188/.188/.375 for the Series but outperformed Yomiuri's other heart-of-the-order stars, Maru and Sakamoto, as their team got swept. [14]

Okamoto began 2020 strong (.267/.348/.597, 16 HR, 42 RBI in 46 G). He finished at .275/.362/.545 with 31 home runs and 97 RBI in 118 games. He paced the CL in home runs (3 ahead of Murakami and Yusuke Ohyama) and RBI (11 more than Murakami). He was 5th in slugging (between Maru and Suzuki), 8th in OPS (between Takayuki Kajitani and Sakamoto) [15], 4th in runs (79, between Chikamoto and Murakami), tied Suzuki and Toshiro Miyazaki for 8th in doubles (26), tied Kosuke Tanaka for 8th in walks (55) and was second with 240 total bases (8 behind Murakami). He won the Best Nine as the league's top third baseman and finished second in voting for the 2020 CL MVP, behind pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano. [16] He was only 1 for 13 with 3 walks in the 2020 Japan Series as the Hawks again blew away Yomiuri. [17]

During the 2021 NPB All-Star Games, he was 1 for 5, with his hit coming off Naoyuki Uwasawa. [18] For the summer, he hit .265/.341/.530 with 39 home runs and 113 RBI. He placed 4th in the 2021 CL in slugging (between Shugo Maki and Yamada) [19], led in fielding at third (.988) [20], tied Murakami for the homer lead, led in RBI (one ahead of Murakami) and was 9th in walks (57). He did not get the Best Nine at third, which went to Murakami, but did get the Gold Glove and was 4th in voting for the 2021 CL MVP (behind Murakami, Yamada and Noboru Shimizu). [21]

Picked as an All-Star again in 2022, he missed the game due to getting COVID-19. [22] He slipped to .252/.336/.469 for 2022 with 30 dingers and 82 RBI. He was 8th in slugging (between Ohyama and Gregory Polanco) [23], led third sackers in assists (238), double plays (20) and fielding (.975) [24], was a distant second in home runs (26 behind Murakami), was 5th in RBI and was 5th with 58 walks (between Ohyama and Ryan McBroom). He again won the Gold Glove. [25] He then represented Japan in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. Okamoto was 0-for-2 against China, and he went 0-for-3 against Australia. Okamoto then went 2-for-5 with a RBI single versus Woo-young Jung of South Korea, and he crushed a 3-run homer against Joe La Sorsa of Italy then added a 2-run double off Vinny Nittoli. He was 0-for-2 against Mexico, then he crushed a solo home run versus Kyle Freeland of the USA to help Japan won Gold.

The Nara native was selected into the 2023 NPB All-Star Games, and he went 0-for-4 in Game 1. He bounced back in Game 2, and he was 2-for-2 with a single against Shunpeita Yamashita in the 2nd inning and a double against Yuki Tsumori in the 5th inning to win the fighting spirit award. He ended up hitting .278/.374/.584 with 41 homers in 2023,and he led the league in runs, homers and slugging. He hit .383 with 8 homers in the interleague plays, and he was named the MVP. Okamoto also ranked 7th in hits (tied with Domingo Santana), 3rd in doubles (31, behind Maki and Santana), 2nd in RBI (10 behind Maki) and 3rd in walks (behind Murakami and Ohyama). He lost the Best Nine to batting title winner Toshiro Miyazaki. He won 92 points in the CL MVP voting, and he was 7th between Takumu Nakano and Kotaro Otake.

Okamoto had another monster season in 2024. He was voted into the 2024 NPB All-Star Games, and he went 3-for-5 in Game 1 but had a 0-for-2 record in Game 2. He crushed 27 homers with a .280/.362/.501 batting line that season, and he led the league with 37 doubles and 268 total bases. Okamoto was 10th in batting (between Miyazaki and Kaito Kozono), 8th in hits (between Kozono and Maru), 2nd in homers (5 behind Murakami), 2nd in RBI (3 behind Murakami) and 3rd in walks (behind Murakami and Chikamoto). He won the Best Nine and Gold Glove as a first baseman. In the MVP voting, Okamoto gained 571 points and ranked 2nd behind Tomoyuki Sugano's 1,357 points. In 2025, he was limited to 69 games with the Giants when he suffered an elbow injury in a collision with Nakano at first base. However, he made those games count as he batted .327 and slugged .598.

He was posted following the 2025 season in order to join a team in Major League Baseball. On January 3, 2026, it was announced that he had agreed to a four-year contract with the Toronto Blue Jays for $60 million plus a $5 million signing bonus. Playing for Japan in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, he hit only .211/.318/.316. [26] He was the Opening Day third baseman for Toronto against The Athletics on March 27th and had an excellent first game, going 2 for 3 with a walk and scoring twice; his second hit in the 9th inning led to his scoring the game-winning run two batters later. He hit his first homer in the team's third game, on March 29th, off Luis Morales of the A's. It took him a few weeks to adjust to major league pitching, as he was batting just .188 and slugging .290 after 18 games on April 17th, but he hit better in the second half of the month, then on May 1st had the first two-homer game of his career in a 7-3 win over the Minnesota Twins. By then, he had 7 homers and 18 RBIs in 31 games and was leading the team in both categories. He had a chance for a third homer in the 9th, but his long fly was caught at the warning track. He was named the Rookie of the Month in the American League in June after hitting seven homers and driving in 20 runs during the month. He hit his first career grand slam on July 8th in a 10-0 win over the San Francisco Giants and on July 10th, he tied Shohei Ohtani's mark for most home runs by a Japanese rookie in MLB when he hit his 22nd long ball of the season in a 5-3 win over the San Diego Padres. For a while, it looked like it would be Japanese national team teammate Munetaka Murakami who would beat the record, but Murakami had to miss six weeks of action with a hamstring injury shortly after hitting his 20th of the year, and only returned on the day Kazuma tied Ohtani's mark. The race was thus on between the two to see who would hold the record at the end of the year.

Sources[edit]

  1. ↑ Taiwan Baseball Wiki
  2. ↑ Japanese Wikipedia
  3. ↑ Box score from his NPB debut
  4. ↑ Box score from his first NPB hit
  5. ↑ 2016 EL leaderboard
  6. ↑ YakyuDB
  7. ↑ 2018 NPB All-Star Game 1
  8. ↑ 2018 NPB All-Star Game 2
  9. ↑ 2018 CL MVP voting
  10. ↑ USA Today
  11. ↑ 2019 NPB All-Star Game 1
  12. ↑ 2019 NPB All-Star Game 2
  13. ↑ 2019 CL MVP voting
  14. ↑ 2019 Japan Series
  15. ↑ 2020 CL batting leaders
  16. ↑ 2020 CL MVP voting
  17. ↑ 2020 Japan Series
  18. ↑ 2021 NPB All-Star Games
  19. ↑ 2021 CL batting leaders
  20. ↑ Japanese Wikipedia
  21. ↑ 2021 NPB awards
  22. ↑ Japanese Wikipedia
  23. ↑ 2022 CL batting leaders
  24. ↑ Japanese Wikipedia
  25. ↑ 2022 NPB Gold Gloves
  26. ↑ World Baseball Classic

Further Reading[edit]

  • Michael Clair: "Kiké Hernández reunited with former teammate and Samurai Japan star in Tokyo", mlb.com, March 18, 2025. [1]
  • Keegan Matheson: "Japanese star Okamoto agrees to 4-year deal with Blue Jays", mlb.com, January 3, 2026. [2]
  • Keegan Matheson: "Blue Jays are getting aura, intrigue in Okamoto. They can thank his daughter", mlb.com, January 7, 2026. [3]
  • Keegan Matheson: "Was Okamoto a quesadilla away from THREE homers?", mlb.com, May 1, 2026. [4]
  • Keegan Matheson: "'Very manly' Okamoto ties Ohtani's rookie record -- and it's not even the All-Star break", mlb.com, June 11, 2026. [5]
  • Brian Murphy: "Slugger Okamoto, RHP Takahashi are posted for MLB free agency", mlb.com, November 20, 2025. [6]

Related Sites[edit]

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