The winner of WBN’s International Player of the Week is Yomiuri Giants first baseman Kazuma Okamoto in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball League.
Okamoto, 28, hit his NPB-leading 16th home run against the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in a 3-2 win on July 12 at the Tokyo Dome. The righty Okamoto pulled the solo shot against DeNA BayStars pitcher starting pitcher Andre Jackson in the second inning and went 2-for-4.
Okamoto is no stranger to the home run leaderboard, leading the Central League in home runs three times. Last year, he led the NPB with 41 home runs, led the NPB with 39 home runs in 2021, and the Central League with 31 in 2020.
Okamoto is having a solid season for the Yomiuri Giants with 16 home runs, 51 RBI, and an OPS of .847 in 296 at-bats.
Okamoto is a 10-year veteran who made his NPB debut with the Yomiuri Giants in 2015. His career numbers are 251 home runs, 789 RBI, a .270 batting average, and an OPS of .838 in 4,497 at-bats.
Okamoto is also a two-time Gold Glove winner and was the Climax Series MVP in 2019, which he helped lead the Yomiuri Giants to the Japan Series against the Pacific League winner. They also made the Japan Series in 2020. They were the runner-ups both times and lost to Fukuoka SoftBanks Hawks in back-to-back seasons.
Okamoto also represented Team Japan in the 2023 World Baseball Classic and helped them beat Team USA 3-2 in the finals at loanDepot Park in Miami. He had two home runs and seven RBI in the 2023 WBC. Okamoto hit a solo shot off Team USA pitcher Kyle Freeland and went 2-for-4 against Team USA.
Photo Credit: Kazuma Okamoto #25 of Team Japan hits a home run in the fourth inning during the 2023 World Baseball Classic Championship game between Team USA and Team Japan. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/WBCI/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
