How Blue Jays' Kazuma Okamoto is connected to Rockies' Tomoyuki Sugano
These two are no strangers to one another.
How Blue Jays' Kazuma Okamoto is connected to Rockies' Tomoyuki Sugano originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . In a league full of competitors, some former teammates occasionally receive the opportunity to match up against one another.
That was the case for Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Kazuma Okamoto and Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano on Monday night at the Rogers Centre. The pair were teammates for 10 seasons with Nippon Professional Baseball's Yomiuri Giants. Sugano struck out Okamoto swinging in the bottom of the second, but the right-handed slugger drew a walk in the fifth -- a failed ABS challenge from Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman.
More : Jacob DeGrom is only 149 strikeouts from 2,000 for his career Former teammates of 10 years with the Yomiuri Giants, Kazuma Okamoto and Tomoyuki Sugano go head-to-head at Rogers Centre āļø pic. twitter. com/1jUnbt8BRy ā Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 30, 2026 Okamoto and Sugano shared the international stage too, representing Japan at this year's World Baseball Classic.
After spending last season with the Baltimore Orioles as a 35-year-old rookie, Sugano signed a one-year, $5. 1 million contract with the Rockies during the offseason. Okamoto, a former three-time Central League home run leader, inked a much more elaborate four-year, $60 million pact with the Blue Jays.