Red Sox Sign Masataka Yoshida

[Dipre]

He rarely hits line drives. Look at his barrel rate and hard hit contact. Its not very good. Bottom of the league

 

His barrel rate is bottom fourth, but his exit velocity, max exit velocity, and hard hit rate are all above average. Let's be objective. His problem is not putting the ball in the air enough on a line, but he has good batted ball profile and an adjustment period was to be expected. Calm down.

[Bellhorn04]

His barrel rate is bottom fourth, but his exit velocity, max exit velocity, and hard hit rate are all above average. Let's be objective. His problem is not putting the ball in the air enough on a line, but he has good batted ball profile and an adjustment period was to be expected. Calm down.

 

He also only had a single pinch hitting appearance the last 2 games.

[Old Red]

He also only had a single pinch hitting appearance the last 2 games.

 

Right now it’s come down to either he plays, or Abreu plays.

[Bellhorn04]

Right now it’s come down to either he plays, or Abreu plays.

 

Yes, Yoshida's status as a starter has become a shaky proposition.

[moonslav59]

Right now it’s come down to either he plays, or Abreu plays.

 

Yup. We are not benching Dugo, Duvall, Casas or Turner, no matter what arm pitcher is starting.

[Old Red]

Yup. We are not benching Dugo, Duvall, Casas or Turner, no matter what arm pitcher is starting.

 

Agree, and the Ref Man can be the third OF against LHP.

[Bellhorn04]

If we've reached the point that Yoshida is competing with Abreu for at-bats, it doesn't say much for how the team is feeling about him right now.

[Old Red]

If we've reached the point that Yoshida is competing with Abreu for at-bats, it doesn't say much for how the team is feeling about him right now.

 

True, but like you said he’s had pretty much the last 2 days off. I do expect him to be back in the lineup tonight though. If not that would be a real bad sign.

[moonslav59]

If we've reached the point that Yoshida is competing with Abreu for at-bats, it doesn't say much for how the team is feeling about him right now.

 

Or, it says a lot about Abreu's progression.

 

No Abreu, and Yoshi plays more, and maybe he snaps out of this slump.

[Bellhorn04]

Or, it says a lot about Abreu's progression.

 

No Abreu, and Yoshi plays more, and maybe he snaps out of this slump.

 

Abreu has 19 MLB PA's. It does say a lot that Yoshida is losing AB's to him.

[moonslav59]

Abreu has 19 MLB PA's. It does say a lot that Yoshida is losing AB's to him.

 

True, but he has not yet been "benched."

 

Has Abrue started out 1 for 19, Yoshida would likely be starting a little more.

[Bellhorn04]

True, but he has not yet been "benched."

 

Has Abrue started out 1 for 19, Yoshida would likely be starting a little more.

 

You know what I'm saying. It's not a good sign that Yoshida is now a guy that is "in the mix" rather than a guy penciled into the lineup every day as you would expect for a guy being paid that much money solely because of his offense.

[Dipre]

I'm not surprised about them giving him a breather considering the slump and how taxing an MLB season is.

[moonslav59]

You know what I'm saying. It's not a good sign that Yoshida is now a guy that is "in the mix" rather than a guy penciled into the lineup every day as you would expect for a guy being paid that much money solely because of his offense.

 

I know exactly what you are saying. Yoshida is struggling and is in danger of playing less and less, especially if Agreu stays hot.

 

We've seen the ups and downs of Yoshida and various opinions on him change a few times, this season.

 

I'm not sure we can look at his prior 3 week production and think "this is who he is," but it is concerning.

 

I liked the Yoshida signing, but would love to see Abreu earn the job he has. I'm glad we still have both, in case one struggles.

[Old Red]

As expected Masa is in the lineup tonight batting cleanup, which I don’t get batting ahead of Duvall, and Casas. The LR thing is overrated sometimes.

[moonslav59]

As expected Masa is in the lineup tonight batting cleanup, which I don’t get batting ahead of Duvall, and Casas. The LR thing is overrated sometimes.

 

Agreed. I might even say "most of the time."

[moonslav59]

As much grief as Yoshida has taken, recently, his yearly numbers do show some impressive rankings on the team:

 

Only Turner has more PAs and a higher OBP:

.358 Tuner

.349 Yoshida

.344 Devers

.342 Verdugo

(Casas is at .363 but has fewer PAs)

 

Only Devers and Turner have more PAs and a higher SLG%:

.509 Devers

.490 Turner

.456 Yoshida

.441 Verdugo

(Duvall.593, Casas .484 and Duran .482 have higher SLG but fewer PAs.)

 

Weird how stats can be used or presented.

 

[Bellhorn04]

As much grief as Yoshida has taken, recently, his yearly numbers do show some impressive rankings on the team:

 

Only Turner has more PAs and a higher OBP:

.358 Tuner

.349 Yoshida

.344 Devers

.342 Verdugo

(Casas is at .363 but has fewer PAs)

 

Only Devers and Turner have more PAs and a higher SLG%:

.509 Devers

.490 Turner

.456 Yoshida

.441 Verdugo

(Duvall.593, Casas .484 and Duran .482 have higher SLG but fewer PAs.)

 

Weird how stats can be used or presented.

 

 

As it stands, Yoshida's offensive numbers are roughly the same as Verdugo's.

 

So the question is how you feel about paying a DH with that profile $18 million a year.

[redsoxrules]

As much grief as Yoshida has taken, recently, his yearly numbers do show some impressive rankings on the team:

 

Only Turner has more PAs and a higher OBP:

.358 Tuner

.349 Yoshida

.344 Devers

.342 Verdugo

(Casas is at .363 but has fewer PAs)

 

Only Devers and Turner have more PAs and a higher SLG%:

.509 Devers

.490 Turner

.456 Yoshida

.441 Verdugo

(Duvall.593, Casas .484 and Duran .482 have higher SLG but fewer PAs.)

 

Weird how stats can be used or presented.

 

 

Yoshida has a 0.8WAR which ranks 8 on the team amongst hitters with 300+ plate appearances. Connor Wong is above him.

[moonslav59]

As it stands, Yoshida's offensive numbers are roughly the same as Verdugo's.

 

So the question is how you feel about paying a DH with that profile $18 million a year.

 

I feel he will have to do better, which he could do, and not burn out in August.

 

$18M is a lot to pay for a .800 hitter with no D plus.

[moonslav59]

Yoshida has a 0.8WAR which ranks 8 on the team amongst hitters with 300+ plate appearances. Connor Wong is above him.

 

If he can get on base at .350, it's not a total loss with him at DH.

 

I'm still holding out hope he can improve.

[Old Red]

As it stands, Yoshida's offensive numbers are roughly the same as Verdugo's.

 

So the question is how you feel about paying a DH with that profile $18 million a year.

 

Most of his production came earlier in the season too, but he did hit his last HR in mammoth Yankee Stadium in RF.

[Bellhorn04]

Most of his production came earlier in the season too, but he did hit his last HR in mammoth Yankee Stadium in RF.

 

And that's his only HR since July 25.

 

Here's another horrible number: in his last 14 starts he has grounded into 6 DP's. His lack of speed and penchant for the DP are seriously cutting into his offensive value.

 

I'm not trying to kill the guy, it's just my deep doubts about Bloom's judgment that I'm taking out on Yoshida.

[mvp 78]

Yoshida has a 0.8WAR which ranks 8 on the team amongst hitters with 300+ plate appearances. Connor Wong is above him.

 

Wong is ahead of him because he's a very good defensive catcher and catchers get a bigger bump in WAR for their defense than most other positions. LF and DH are an automatic penalty in the WAR calculation.

 

It makes sense that he's behind Devers, Duvall, Turner, Casas and Duran as they've put up big offensive numbers this year, but Masa has been up and down. Verdugo's offensive WAR is lower than Yoshida's, but he's making up for it with outstanding RF defense which came after a very bad defensive season in 2022 (-5 DRS in RF last year).

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

And that's his only HR since July 25.

 

Here's another horrible number: in his last 14 starts he has grounded into 6 DP's. His lack of speed and penchant for the DP are seriously cutting into his offensive value.

 

I'm not trying to kill the guy, it's just my deep doubts about Bloom's judgment that I'm taking out on Yoshida.

 

Bloom's judgment? He's "surrounding Devers with talent!"

 

I know, I know, he didn't say on the diamond... but Raffy has a really good interpreter, and masseuse, and videographer, and curfew attendant who tucks him in and sings "Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur..."

[cp176]

Bloom's judgment? He's "surrounding Devers with talent!"

 

I know, I know, he didn't say on the diamond... but Raffy has a really good interpreter, and masseuse, and videographer, and curfew attendant who tucks him in and sings "Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur..."

 

We have a pant load of pretty good dhs on this team. lol

[Bellhorn04]

We have a pant load of pretty good dhs on this team. lol

 

Yeah, a little lacking in complete players. We had one a few years ago but he's gone...

[cp176]

Yeah, a little lacking in complete players. We had one a few years ago but he's gone...

 

hmmm - is it he who should not be named?

[Dipre]

Wong is ahead of him because he's a very good defensive catcher and catchers get a bigger bump in WAR for their defense than most other positions. LF and DH are an automatic penalty in the WAR calculation.

 

It makes sense that he's behind Devers, Duvall, Turner, Casas and Duran as they've put up big offensive numbers this year, but Masa has been up and down. Verdugo's offensive WAR is lower than Yoshida's, but he's making up for it with outstanding RF defense which came after a very bad defensive season in 2022 (-5 DRS in RF last year).

 

I came here to say this, but you already said it and better.

[moonslav59]

IMO, we did not sign Yoshida for his D, and expecting value from the defense would be a mistake.

 

That being said, for his salary, it's not unreasonable to expect better offense than he has given us, so far. He has been a bit inconsistent, so at various times in the season, he has looked better or worse, so maybe over the full season, we may think differently.

 

I'm not ready to call the signing a failure or even a bad one, but I do feel like it would not be right to say it was a "good signing" at that cost.