MIAMI — It would be an understatement to say that first half of Masataka Yoshida’s second season in the big leagues didn’t go to plan. The Red Sox’ $90 million man lost his position in the field, missed 37 games with a mysterious thumb strain and didn’t produce, providing the Sox with a putrid .663 OPS out of the designated hitter spot.
Through 81 games, a player Alex Cora had challenged to hit .320 this year had an average nearly 75 points lower at .246. In his first nine games after coming off the injured list June 11, Yoshida was 4-for-34, good for a .118 average. With the Red Sox closer to full strength after Wilyer Abreu returned from injury, there were questions over whether or not Cora would give some more DH at-bats to Tyler O’Neill instead of jamming Yoshida in the lineup day after day. Finally, in the last week, Yoshida has begun to wake up.
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Yoshida had three of Boston’s 13 hits in an 8-3 Red Sox win Tuesday night, marking just the second time all season he has had three hits in a game. The three singles raised his average to .391 (9-for-23) over his last 10 games, a period during which he has struck out just three times. So far, thanks to Jarren Duran, Rafael Devers, Connor Wong and others, the Red Sox have been able to string together an offense despite Yoshida. Moving forward, he can only make the starting nine better.
“We like the hitter. We like the at-bat,” said manager Alex Cora. “People get caught up in the slug and hitting the ball in the air. But this guy is a quote-unquote professional hitter. We know he can hit and I think he’s getting his rhythm back. That’s very important.”
With two outs and two runs already having scored in the first, Yoshida demonstrated an impressive piece of hitting when he shot an outside 1-2 changeup from starter Valente Bellozo to the opposite field to keep the inning alive. He led off the fourth with a single and scored on Rafaela’s game-changing three-run homer. In the seventh, with two men on, he recorded his 14th RBI with another knock.
The Red Sox don’t need Yoshida, who has 17 homers in 729 career plate appearances, to hit for a ton of power. But they do need him to keep the line moving like he did Tuesday.
“It’s about keeping it simple,” Yoshida said through interpreter Yutaro Yamaguchi. “If it’s an outside pitch, go the opposite way and stay basic. That’s the approach I’m sticking with right now.
“I’ve been able to stay inside the ball. I’m trying to get that good angle swinging to the ball. Things are starting to go in my direction.”
It’s not unfair to say that Yoshida’s future with the Red Sox is in real jeopardy if he doesn’t start producing soon. The executive that signed him for $90 million over five years, Chaim Bloom, is gone. The new regime thinks so highly of his defensive play that he has played just one inning in left field this year (in an emergency situation). Without speed or the ability to play defense, Yoshida can really only demonstrate his aptitude with two tools. With the power numbers not there, a high average might be the saving grace.
Yoshida’s thumb injury, which required the opinions of three different doctors — including one he requested from his agent, Scott Boras, before it was determined surgery wouldn’t be necessary — clearly had an impact on him early. His timing was clearly off when he returned after just two rehab games in mid-June. Now, he’s feeling much better physically and is beginning to reap the benefits of continued reps. The thumb is feeling better, too.
“If I get jammed, I feel it a little bit. But I think I’ve been treating it pretty well and maintaining it,” Yoshida said. “I’m in a better place.
At the plate, too, it seems.
“I’m really happy that it turned out this way and I was able to get some knocks today,” Yoshida said.
