(Reuters) - Toronto Blue Jays slugger Edwin Encarnacion, in the midst of a breakout offensive campaign, was rewarded with a three-year, $27 million contract extension, the Major League Baseball (MLB) team said on Thursday.

In his eighth MLB season and fourth with the Blue Jays, the 29-year-old Dominican Republic native is batting .295 with 23 home runs and 58 runs batted in (RBI) while splitting his time between first base and designated hitter.

Encarnacion, who played for the Cincinnati Reds before joining the Blue Jays during the 2009 season and re-signing with the team as a free agent the following year, is also tied for fourth in the American League in home runs and seventh in RBIs.

(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto; Editing by Frank Pingue)