The Boston Red Sox are hoping to put a winning team on the field in 2025 and return to the playoffs for the first time since the 2021 season. If Masataka Yoshida is going to be a part of the current Red Sox team, he is going to have to do it as an oufielder.
In previous seasons with the Red Sox, Yoshida has played both outfield and the designated hitter position. Since Rafael Devers is apparently moving from 3rd base to DH so newcomer Alex Bregman can take over at 3rd base, there is no need for Yoshida to serve as the DH. Instead, manager Alex Cora said that he will need to see Yoshida play the outfield.
Complicating matters is that Yoshida had a torn labrum repaired and that he will have to recover fully before cutting loose with a throw in game competition. Yoshida is improving in that area and Cora said he is throwing up to 100 feet, but he needs to build up his arm and get comfortable in the outfield once again before he can play at the Major League level.
“If you ask him, there’s a reason he wanted to have surgery, too,” Cora said, per Boston.com. “We signed him as an outfielder. Obviously, circumstances have changed here, but I’d be very comfortable when he’s healthy, to play him in the outfield.”
Full recovery by Yoshida would give Red Sox options
The Red Sox don’t want to have any controversies as they prepare for the 2025 season. Asking Devers to adjust from 3rd bases to designated hitter is not an easy move because he had established himself as the team’s best offensive player for several years. However, the signing of Bregman to a free agent contract shortly before the start of training camp meant that Devers’ ego had to be massaged in an effort to get him to accept the move.
The Red Sox have a starting outfield of Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu, so Yoshida will be an extra outfielder when he is allowed to join the team. It may be difficult for Yoshida to get playing time since the Red Sox also have Rob Refsnyder as a fourth outfielder.
The Red Sox are likely hoping to trade Yoshida when he is healthy enough to rejoin the team. Devers appears to be a dominant designated hitter and Yoshida would not be any more than a fifth outfielder.
Yoshida has played two seasons with the Red Sox since moving to the American League East team from Japan. Yoshida slashed .289/.338/.445 in the 2023 season with 15 home runs and 72 runs batted in during the 2023 season. He followed that up with a slash line of .280/.349/.415 with 10 home runs and 57 RBI last year.
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