The Toronto Blue Jays dropped Kazuma Okamoto from the lineup amid the team’s offensive struggles.
Toronto is set to kick off a three-game series on Friday against the Philadelphia Phillies. Ahead of the series opener, the Blue Jays revealed their lineup. Okamoto dropped from second to fifth in the lineup and will remain playing first base amid Vladimir Guerrero Jr. being out due to an injury.
The Blue Jays lineup is as follows:
- N. Lukes RF
- A. Kirk C
- J. Sánchez LF
- G. Springer DH
- K. Okamoto 1B
- A. Giménez SS
- E. Clement 2B
- J. Smith 3B
- B. Bateman CF
Toronto decided to move Alejandro Kirk to the second spot while Okamoto was dropped to fifth. Along with that, center fielder Brett Bateman will start and make his MLB debut after being acquired from the Chicago Cubs in the Kevin Gausman trade.
Okamoto is hitting .229 with 24 home runs and 70 RBIs this season. However, in his last 30 games, he’s hitting .211 with 5 home runs and 17 RBIs, while in his last 7, he’s hitting .207 with 0 home runs and 2 RBIs, while striking out 11 times.
More to come.
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