For as high as the highs Kazuma Okamoto’s enjoyed during his first Major League season, the 30-year-old Toronto Blue Jays third baseman has had some lows of equal measure.
None is more glaring than the Japanese slugger’s penchant to strike out.
During Tuesday’s Blue Jays win, Okamoto became just the fifth Japanese player to hit 30 home runs in an MLB season and, earlier, set the new franchise record for home runs by a rookie.
In Wednesday’s loss, however, Okamoto made more Blue Jays history, this time of a dubious nature.
During the top of the ninth inning, Okamoto went down swinging, chasing a pitch away to cap a dreadful 0-for-4 afternoon in West Sacramento, Calif. that included three strikeouts against the Athletics. That last strike-three call he saw was the 171st time Okamoto had been punched out this season, setting the Blue Jays single-season record for strikeouts by a hitter.
Okamoto now stands alone atop Blue Jays great Jose Bautista, who had owned the record for 170 during the 2017 season. Former Blue Jays third baseman Matt Chapman tied Bautista’s mark of 170 in 2022.