Blue Jays’ Kazuma Okamoto has message for fans amid .200 average and already 24 strikeouts

Blue Jays’ Kazuma Okamoto has message for fans amid .200 average and already 24 strikeouts originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Toronto Blue Jays have a few issues on both sides of the baseball, though a lot of it is due to the injuries they're dealing with. However, one of the bigger factors is that some of their new and top players aren’t playing as well as they were expected to.

Unfortunately for Japanese slugger Kazuma Okamoto, that's somewhat been the case early on. I like what I've seen from Okamoto as a whole, but he needs to start doing a bit better offensively for this move to work out the way the Blue Jays were hoping.

Currently hitting .200 with two home runs and 24 strikeouts in 65 at-bats, it's evident that Major League Baseball pitching has been somewhat of a challenge for Okamoto early on. That isn't necessarily surprising, as this game is much harder in Major League Baseball than in Japan, but it doesn't sound like he's too worried yet.

Instead, he sent a message to Blue Jays fans that should have a lot of them hyped up. He just needs to get going and expects himself to do that soon.

“To be honest, I want to, obviously, hit more,” Okamoto said through team interpreter Yusuke Oshima, per Mitch Bannon of The Athletic. “But over the long course of the season, I know there are going to be ups and downs. That’s no different from when I was playing in Japan. I think it’s just a little lull right now. Hopefully I get it going soon.

“Being in the lineup,” Okamoto said, “I feel responsible. I want to contribute to this team and be able to hit.”

It's always good to hear a player from another country has the confidence to bounce back.