A Toronto Blue Jays rookie has taken one of Shohei Ohtani’s records by force.
Blue Jays slugger Kazuma Okamoto smashed his 23rd home run on Friday in a road contest against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park in Boston, Mass. With Toronto trailing 4-0 in the top of the 7th inning, Okamoto blasted a first-pitch fastball to dead center for a 3-run homer.
Okamoto’s 23rd big fly broke a tie with Ohtani for the most home runs by a Japanese-born rookie in MLB history.
OKAMOTO SAN!
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) July 25, 2026
NUMBER 23 – THE MOST BY A JAPANESE-BORN ROOKIE! pic.twitter.com/lIKeAspOFb
Okamoto was batting third in the lineup behind Vladimir Guerrero Jr., which shows how much the Jays value the power from his bat. The Japanese third baseman has batted .227 with 23 home runs, 65 RBIs, and an OPS of .759 across 412 plate appearances for Toronto in his first MLB season.
While Okamoto’s feat was still impressive, he also did it at age 30 with several years of experience in Japan’s NPB league. A 23-year-old Ohtani hit 22 home runs in just 367 plate appearances during his first year with the Los Angeles Angels. He also did it while sporting a 3.31 ERA across 10 starts as a pitcher.
Japanese sluggers have been flexing their muscles across the MLB this season. Ohtani fittingly has 22 home runs through Friday’s slate, while Chicago Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki has 17 of his own.
Chicago White Sox first baseman Munetaka Murakami was on the verge of breaking Ohtani’s record before he suffered a hamstring strain that sidelined him for 35 games. The White Sox rookie already had 20 before the end of April and may very well challenge Okamoto for the record for the rest of the season.
