The Seattle Mariners purchased the contract of Japanese infielder Jo Oyama from the Ottawa Titans of the Frontier League on June 2.
OFFICIAL: The Seattle Mariners have purchased the contract of INF Jo Oyama! 🌊
Best of luck in the M's organization, Jo! 🥳
Details 🔽
— Ottawa Titans (@ottawa_titans) June 2, 2025
According to the Ottawa Titans website, “Oyama is expected to be assigned to the Mariners’ Arizona Complex League affiliate in Peoria, Ariz., and becomes the third member of the Ottawa Titans to have their contract purchased by a Major League Baseball organization in franchise history.”
The 24-year-old left-handed hitter from Naha, Japan, played in 12 games for the Ottawa Titans in the 2025 season, batting .273/.320/.364 across 122 plate appearances with 12 hits, two doubles, one triple, eight RBI, four stolen bases, four walks, and eight strikeouts.
Last season, in his first year as a professional, Oyama played for the Kufu Hayate in Nippon Professional Baseball’s Japan Western League.
He played in 33 games for the Kufu Hayate and hit .220/.344/.260 in 122 plate appearances, collecting 22 hits, four doubles, five RBI, three stolen bases, 16 walks, and 21 strikeouts.
Oyama played for UC Irvine in the 2024 season and ranked in the top 10 in multiple statistical categories in the Big West Conference. In 296 plate appearances, he recorded 223 at-bats, 64 runs, 114 total bases, four triples, 55 RBI, 26 hit-by-pitches, 11 sacrifice hits, and 26 extra-base hits.
In 2024, he batted .296 with 13 doubles, four triples, and nine home runs for UC Irvine.
Oyama also played in 39 games for the Orleans Firebirds in the Cape Cod Baseball League during the 2023 season, hitting .360/.456/.613 over 182 plate appearances. He totaled 54 hits, 11 doubles, six triples, five home runs, 17 RBI, six stolen bases, 25 walks, and 28 strikeouts.
During his first season at UC Irvine, he played in 53 games and batted .319/.418/.500 with 259 plate appearances, 67 hits, seven doubles, five triples, seven home runs, 44 RBI, 14 stolen bases, 31 walks, and 37 strikeouts.
Across his two seasons at UC Irvine, Oyama played in 112 games and posted a .307 batting average with 555 plate appearances, 133 hits, 20 doubles, nine triples, 16 home runs, 99 RBI, 23 stolen bases, 65 walks, 91 strikeouts, and a .937 OPS.
Oyama attended Merced College in Merced, Calif., before transferring to UC Irvine.
He spent three seasons at Merced College, where he was named a Junior College Second-Team All-American and the Conference MVP in 2022. He earned First-Team All-Conference honors twice and compiled a .360 batting average over 91 games with 109 runs scored, 20 doubles, nine triples, eight home runs, 70 RBI, and 39 stolen bases.
In 2022, he played 42 games and batted .409 with a .696 slugging percentage, recording 74 hits, 61 runs, 14 doubles, seven triples, eight home runs, 45 RBI, and 25 stolen bases. In 2021, he played 27 games and hit .327 with a .434 on-base percentage, adding 33 hits, 31 runs, four doubles, two triples, 17 RBI, and seven stolen bases.
