Blue Jays Rookie Just Did Something Only 9 Other Players Have Done at Rogers Centre

Kazuma Okamoto isn’t just having a solid debut season in Toronto — he’s now got his name on a very short list of sluggers who have pulled off one of the toughest feats in baseball: reaching the 500 level at Rogers Centre.

On Friday night against the New York Yankees, the Blue Jays infielder connected on an 87 mph slider from left-hander Ryan Weathers and sent it 423 feet to left field. The ball didn’t just clear the wall — it climbed all the way to the fifth deck, a section so distant that fewer than 20 players have reached it since the stadium opened in 1989.

Okamoto became just the 10th player in franchise history to hit a home run into that exclusive territory. He joins a list that includes Joe Carter, Carlos Delgado, Jose Canseco, Shawn Green, Raul Mondesi, Josh Phelps, Vernon Wells, Edwin Encarnacion, and Josh Donaldson. Only 19 players in MLB history have accomplished the feat at Rogers Centre.

“That ball was crushed,” fans online noted, with clips of the swing circulating quickly on social media. The home run gave Toronto an early 3-0 lead in the first game of the series, setting a tone that carried through the rest of the night.

Entering Friday, Okamoto was slashing .230/.309/.422 with 13 home runs and 38 RBI in his first MLB season. He didn’t stop there — he later added his team-leading 14th homer of the year, also off Weathers. The Yankees lefty allowed six runs and six hits in 4 1/3 innings and has now surrendered seven home runs over his past three starts.

Toronto walked away with an 8-5 win. Alejandro Kirk returned from a fractured left thumb after missing 62 games, going 3-for-3 with a walk, two RBI, and a run scored. George Springer also went deep, while Cody Bellinger hit his 10th home run for New York. The loss snapped the Yankees’ four-game winning streak.

Trey Yesavage (3-3) got the win, allowing five runs and four hits in five-plus innings. Louis Varland earned his 12th save in 12 chances. The Blue Jays are now 12-6 when they hit two or more home runs in a game.

For a rookie still finding his footing in the majors, Okamoto’s latest feat is more than just a flashy highlight. It’s a reminder that power this rare doesn’t come around often — and when it does, it lands in exclusive company.