The Blue Jays got a much-needed jolt on Sunday against the Orioles, and Kazuma Okamoto put his name in the franchise record book while Toronto kept fighting to stay alive in the 2026 postseason race.
Toronto entered the day just 1.0 game behind the Cleveland Guardians, and the offense came through with a pair of notable blasts. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. finally snapped his home run drought at Rogers Centre, connecting for his first homer at home this season after 68 games in his own ballpark. Then Okamoto delivered the bigger milestone.
In the fifth inning, right after Guerrero’s streak-ending homer, Okamoto launched a solo shot to make it 4-1. It was his 32nd homer of the season, but the real significance came with the RBI attached to it: No. 85.
That run batted in gave Okamoto the most RBIs ever by a Blue Jays rookie, passing Eric Hinske for the franchise mark. The team made the announcement after the homer, posting, "HISTORY FOR BIG OAK #BlueJays50," and adding, "Kazuma Okamoto: Toronto Blue Jays rookie RBI record, passes Eric Hinske."
For a first season in the majors, it has been a roaring start for Okamoto. His production has been strong enough that, if the Blue Jays had played better as a team, the rookie’s run would probably be drawing even more national attention.
Instead, it’s a milestone that Blue Jays fans can hang onto, and there may be more coming. Toronto still had 12 games left after Sunday’s matchup with Baltimore, giving Okamoto a real chance to keep building on the record and push his rookie RBI total even higher before the season ends.
In Other News...
Dodgers Suddenly Face A Massive Tarik Skubal Problem
Tarik Skubal has given the Dodgers exactly what they hoped for since his arrival, settling in as a left-handed presence at the front of the rotation and posting a 2.93 ERA across seven starts. But even with that early success, his next move is already looming, and it has put Los Angeles in the same conversation with Toronto as the two clubs most often mentioned as early favorites to land him once free agency opens this winter.
For the Blue Jays, that makes this a familiar kind of chase: a premium arm available at the top of the market, with a price tag projected somewhere in the $400 million to $500 million range and the kind of bidding war that can reshape a winter. Toronto has the resources and the need to stay in the thick of it, but the real tension is how far the club is willing to go if the bidding gets as aggressive as expected. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jays Playoff Push Keeps Bringing Back One Frustrating Bichette Reality
Bo Bichettes post-All-Star surge with the Mets has only sharpened the reminder for Toronto: the Blue Jays are still living with the hole he left behind. Bichette has looked far more like himself at the plate since the break, and for a team trying to stay on track in a playoff race, that kind of production at shortstop is exactly the sort of presence the Blue Jays have been missing.
Torontos infield has not provided enough help to offset it, with Kazuma Okamoto and Ernie Clement both underperforming since the break. So every Bichette hot streak in New York tends to circle back to the same frustrating question in Toronto, one that could linger all the way into free agency if the Blue Jays decide they want to revisit the relationship. [Read more 🡒]
Vladimir Guerrero Jr Finally Gave Blue Jays Fans Hope At Home
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. finally gave Rogers Centre something to cheer about in a season that had been missing his usual thunder at home. Against the Orioles, he delivered his ninth home run of the year, a much-needed breakthrough for a Blue Jays lineup that has been leaning on every bit of power it can find while trying to stay in the American League race.
The blast came during a game Toronto controlled from start to finish, with the Blue Jays rolling to an 8-1 win that kept them right in the mix for a postseason spot. For Guerrero, the bigger significance may have been less about the number on the scoreboard and more about the relief of getting a home crowd moment he and the team had been waiting for. [Read more 🡒]