Kazuma Okamoto didn’t take home American League Rookie of the Year honors, but his first season in Toronto still landed in the kind of territory that gets remembered.
The award went to Detroit’s Kevin McGonigle, who ran away with the AL vote. Okamoto finished seventh and picked up one third-place vote, a result that feels fair on paper. Still, the Blue Jays got plenty out of their lone nominee, and his debut season packed more punch than the final voting line suggests.
Okamoto’s numbers were the old-school kind that used to carry a lot more weight: 33 home runs and 92 RBIs. He actually finished with more homers than both McGonigle and National League Rookie of the Year Sal Stewart, even if that no longer moves ballots the way it once did.
Stewart, 22, earned 20 of 30 first-place votes and 170 points, finishing ahead of Mets outfielder Carson Benge, who got seven first-place votes and 107 points, and Cardinals second baseman JJ Wetherholt, who received three first-place votes and 99 points. Stewart was the only player on every ballot.
In his first full big-league season, he hit .263 with a .787 OPS, 32 home runs and 112 RBI while appearing in all 162 games and making 161 starts. He became the first rookie to do that since Delmon Young of the Devil Rays in 2007.
McGonigle’s win in the American League was even more decisive. The 22-year-old collected 28 of 30 first-place votes over finalists Parker Messick and Payton Tolle after hitting .278/.376/.430 with 18 home runs, 72 RBI, 97 runs scored and 12 steals.
His 7.1 bWAR led all AL players, and he finished in the league’s top 10 in OBP, hits and total bases while striking out just five more times than he walked, 100 to 95. McGonigle also became the first rookie since Ted Williams in 1939 to post at least 97 runs, 28 doubles, 18 homers, 72 RBI and 95 walks.
He split time between shortstop and third base, logging 96 games at short and 94 at third, and added plus-10 defensive runs saved. He’s the first Tigers infielder to win the award since Lou Whitaker in 1978 and only the sixth winner in franchise history.
The AL result still didn’t sit right with everyone. Some believed Cleveland starter Parker Messick had a case of his own.
He led the Guardians’ rotation with a 2.56 ERA, posted a 1.06 WHIP and struck out 193 batters in 186 innings, pacing all rookie pitchers in ERA and WHIP. Only three other rookie pitchers in MLB history have finished with an ERA of 2.60 or lower and at least nine strikeouts per nine innings, and all three won Rookie of the Year.
For Okamoto, though, the bigger story is what he did over 156 games. He hit .232 with a .310 on-base percentage, but he also led the Blue Jays in home runs, RBI, slugging and OPS. That production mattered, especially for an offense that finished last in several major categories.
His 33 homers topped the Blue Jays’ rookie record, passing Eric Hinske’s 24 from 2002. Okamoto broke that mark on Aug.
- He also reached a notable milestone on Sept. 8, when his 30th home run made him the fifth Japanese-born player to hit 30 in a season, joining Hideki Matsui, Shohei Ohtani, Seiya Suzuki and Munetaka Murakami.
So while the award slipped away, Okamoto’s rookie year still stands as one of the best in Blue Jays history. If he keeps producing over the remaining three years of his four-year contract, this vote will be a footnote.
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