Article: Masataka Yoshida's Rocky 2025 Has Taken A Pleasant Turn

[Nick John]

It hasn’t always been a good time in Boston for Masataka Yoshida since he joined the Red Sox. Injuries, underperformance, and plateauing skills have all kept him from living up to his big contract. And yet, despite that, the 32-year-old outfielder may have helped save the team’s chances of making the playoffs thanks to a strong September at the plate.

When the Boston Red Sox signed Yoshida to a five-year $90 million deal back in December 2022, there were mixed reactions. Other teams felt the Red Sox had overpaid for the hitter and due to his poor defense, it was assumed that he may not be a good fit for the team. Instead, the Red Sox embraced Yoshida in his rookie season playing him in left field for 87 contests. Offensively, he was decent, hitting .289/.338/.445 with 33 doubles, three triples, 15 home runs and 72 RBIs in 2023.

The 2024 season was a different story, as the team did not want him playing in the outfield any longer, instead serving as the team’s designated hitter. He would go on to only play 108 games, all but one as the DH, where his numbers dipped to .280/.349/.415 with 21 doubles, 10 home runs and 56 RBIs. Following the season, it was revealed that he would need labrum surgery, and the team stated that was the reason he did not play in the field.

Entering this year, it was clear Yoshida was the odd man out, with Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu manning the outfield, while Roman Anthony was waiting to be promoted. Along with that, Rafael Devers was the team’s new designated hitter after the signing of Alex Bregman, leaving Yoshida without a position. Despite a strong spring training showing, Yoshida opened the year on the injured list as the team stated he would not play until he felt comfortable throwing the baseball regularly. Many fans felt it was an excuse to keep Yoshida off the roster to keep the lineup flexible.

It turns out, his injury was worse than feared, as he didn't even start his rehab assignment until July 2 with the Worcester Red Sox. Yoshida would play five games between Worcester and Portland before being activated by the Red Sox on July 9 against the Colorado Rockies. He was used sparingly upon returning, appearing in just 13 games in July where he hit .239/.255/.370 with an OPS of .625. His presence created a roster crunch as the Red Sox, had four outfielders fighting for three spots and on most occasions, couldn’t rotate them between the outfield and designated hitter due to Yoshida’s presence in the lineup. The argument was being made that the roster was more flexible in its lineup construction prior to Yoshida’s activation, and his bat wasn’t worth taking up a spot in the lineup.

In August, he received more playing time, appearing in 22 games, but struggled even more than in July. As the Sox battled it out for playoff position, Yoshida managed to hit just .214/.296/.300. However, it now seems that since the calendar flipped to September, Yoshida has turned his season around and just when the Red Sox needed an offensive jolt.

The team lost Anthony for the season on September 2 after he injured his oblique against the Cleveland Guardians, and for most of the second half, Alex Bregman has not looked like himself as he’s continued to deal with his quad injury. The Red Sox also lost a key piece of their lineup in Wilyer Abreu during a mid-August series against the Miami Marlins. The lineup needed a boost, and in a surprising fashion, it was Yoshida who provided it. In 16 games in September, Yoshida has raked at the plate, hitting .333/.344/474 with an OPS of .818. In that span, he’s also put the ball in play much more often, hitting five doubles and a home run to go along with 11 RBIs while striking out just four times.

In a month that has seen severe streakiness from players like Rafaela and Duran, the Red Sox are fortunate that Yoshida has stepped up, especially during the past seven games. After going 0-for-2 with a RBI against the Athletics, Yoshida has gone on a six-game hitting streak, going 10-for-26 with five RBI in that span including clutch hits during the series with the Blue Jays as the Red Sox hung onto a small lead for the second Wild Card spot. Looking back to the Sunday Night Baseball game against the Yankees on September 14, Yoshida is 14-for 33 and causing havoc. His stat line has jumped up to .261/.306/.375 on the season thanks to his performance this month.

And while Yoshida may not be in the best interest of the club’s future and his contract may not have worked out as many had hoped, should he help carry the team into the playoffs, then he may go down in a positive light in the history of the Red Sox. The team is no stranger to having folk heroes emerge during October (Steve Pearce, anyone?). To think that Yoshida, a player who spent most of the season on the injured list, could carry the team through September is what makes baseball so great.

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[Old Red]

GOshida!

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Mass Attacka!

[Old Red]

I am not a NOshida/GOshida guy, and never have been, but having said that for a guy who DH’d in ST, and could have DH’d for the Red Sox since opening day instead Masa was shipped off to parts unknown, and didn’t even play for a long time due to the roster construction it’s good to see him produce, and help the Red Sox.

[notin]

18 minutes ago, Old Red said:

I am not a NOshida/GOshida guy, and never have been, but having said that for a guy who DH’d in ST, and could have DH’d for the Red Sox since opening day instead Masa was shipped off to parts unknown, and didn’t even play for a long time due to the roster construction it’s good to see him produce, and help the Red Sox.

1. You coined the terms “Noshida” and “Goshida.”

2. I do agree I didn’t understand why they kept Yoshida out of action for so long.  Not sure why he didn’t DH in Worcester.  

[notin]

2 hours ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Mass Attacka!

Remember when you assumed me who would play Devers ‘21 role this final weekend?

I stand by my answer…

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

10 minutes ago, notin said:

Remember when you assumed me who would play Devers ‘21 role this final weekend?

I stand by my answer…

I gotta see Yoshi take one off the Monster, then I'll agree.

It's too much to ask him to reach the bullpens -- especially after they shut him down from lifting those inflatable dumbbells during his post-op rehab.

[Old Red]

12 minutes ago, notin said:

1. You coined the terms “Noshida” and “Goshida.”

2. I do agree I didn’t understand why they kept Yoshida out of action for so long.  Not sure why he didn’t DH in Worcester.  

#2 was the puzzling part since he was able to DH in ST, and then didn’t get an AB in a real game for a long time.

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, Old Red said:

#2 was the puzzling part since he was able to DH in ST, and then didn’t get an AB in a real game for a long time.

Has anyone ever answered why?

I gotta think he'd have done better after a long "rehab" stint at AAA.

[Old Red]

59 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Has anyone ever answered why?

I gotta think he'd have done better after a long "rehab" stint at AAA.

Never heard why Masa was capable to DH in ST, but didn’t DH in Woo, or anywhere else for such a long time. I don’t recall anyone asking either

[moonslav59]

11 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Never heard why Masa was capable to DH in ST, but didn’t DH in Woo, or anywhere else for such a long time. I don’t recall anyone asking either

Where is that crack Boston media team?

[notin]

1 hour ago, Old Red said:

Never heard why Masa was capable to DH in ST, but didn’t DH in Woo, or anywhere else for such a long time. I don’t recall anyone asking either

Asking? Plenty of us.

What we lacked were answers 

[Old Red]

45 minutes ago, notin said:

Asking? Plenty of us.

What we lacked were answers 

I know we did, but I was talking about the crack Boston press.

[notin]

9 minutes ago, Old Red said:

I know we did, but I was talking about the crack Boston press.

I can speak for them.  “Last from Alex was that wanted him in the OF, and wanted him fully healthy before he started working there.”

That was my Alex Speier impression. Judge me on voice only and not content…

[moonslav59]

That silly response makes no sense. Even if they wanted him in the OF, especially when Devers was planted at DH, why not let him keep the hit tool fresh, while working on building up the arm for OF clearance? It's not like he can only build up arm strength during game times. There are 24 hours in a day.

Once Devers was traded, and Anthony was booming, it looked clear that we didn't need Masa in the OF. They could have played him at DH in AAA starting in mid June.

Maybe he'd have been hitting like this back in late July or early August.

[Nick John]

11 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Has anyone ever answered why?

I gotta think he'd have done better after a long "rehab" stint at AAA.

1) the team didn't want to have him on the roster until he could comfortably throw a baseball the distance of left field to the infield.

2) You can only place a player on a rehab assignment for a certain number of days. I forget the exact number but I want to say around 20 days. After that they have to either be optioned, recalled from rehab or activated. Last thing the Sox need is to deal with an investigation into manipulating rehab assignments so they waited until he could regularly throw a baseball without pain.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Can almost hear Sam from the front office: "The reason we didn't acquire a bat at the deadline was we knew Yoshida would be returning in the second half to bat clean-up, and hit over .400 down the stretch and lead our team in RBIs."

Now we know the real reason they traded Devers -- to open up a spot in the batting order for Mass Attacka.

[moonslav59]

8 hours ago, Nick John said:

1) the team didn't want to have him on the roster until he could comfortably throw a baseball the distance of left field to the infield.

2) You can only place a player on a rehab assignment for a certain number of days. I forget the exact number but I want to say around 20 days. After that they have to either be optioned, recalled from rehab or activated. Last thing the Sox need is to deal with an investigation into manipulating rehab assignments so they waited until he could regularly throw a baseball without pain.

Yoshida had options. He could have been assigned to AAA all season long.

[Bellhorn04]

1 minute ago, moonslav59 said:

Yoshida had options. He could have been assigned to AAA all season long.

They had their reasons, whatever they were.   

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Can almost hear Sam from the front office: "The reason we didn't acquire a bat at the deadline was we knew Yoshida would be returning in the second half to bat clean-up, and hit over .400 down the stretch and lead our team in RBIs."

Now we know the real reason they traded Devers -- to open up a spot in the batting order for Mass Attacka.

LOL!

In all fairness, they did count on Anthony remaining healthy- and Abreu, too.

For all the talk of an inconsistent offense that bunches all their hits into a handful of games to warp the view of how good their offense is, well...

The last few game have seen most of our games fall in the 9-12 hits range. Last 12 games: team hits

10, 12, 8, 10, 7, 12, 10, 10, 9, 12, 4, 10

11 of the 12 games fell between 7 and 12 hits. 10 between 8 and 12 and 9 between 9 and 12.

We haven't had more than 12 hits since doing it back to back to start Sept (14 & 18 hits on Sep 1 & 2.) We had 2 hits on 9/12, but we've had between 7 and 12 in 17 of the last 19 games.

 

[moonslav59]

4 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

They had their reasons, whatever they were.   

Yes, but their excuse did not answer why he could have kept sharp batting all year in AAA.

The "rehab limit" was not involved in this case.

[Bellhorn04]

Just now, moonslav59 said:

Yes, but their excuse did not answer why he could have kept sharp batting all year in AAA.

The "rehab limit" was not involved in this case.

I choose to think Breslow is not an idiot and realizes these things as well as we do LOL

[moonslav59]

18 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I choose to think Breslow is not an idiot and realizes these things as well as we do LOL

Then he tell us why. Expose the genius!

(Maybe he wants to keep it a secret from other teams?)

 

[Bellhorn04]

6 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Then he tell us why. Expose the genius!

(Maybe he wants to keep it a secret from other teams?)

 

The Red Sox front office lives by the code of Omerta, you know that.

[moonslav59]

11 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

The Red Sox front office lives by the code of Omerta, you know that.

They sure talk a lot with their shoes in their mouths.

Was it Omerta to promise a big addition after the Devers trade, or was that guy Yoshida?

[notin]

On 9/26/2025 at 5:34 PM, moonslav59 said:

That silly response makes no sense. Even if they wanted him in the OF, especially when Devers was planted at DH, why not let him keep the hit tool fresh, while working on building up the arm for OF clearance? It's not like he can only build up arm strength during game times. There are 24 hours in a day.

Once Devers was traded, and Anthony was booming, it looked clear that we didn't need Masa in the OF. They could have played him at DH in AAA starting in mid June.

Maybe he'd have been hitting like this back in late July or early August.

I’m working with what I have.  And I asked to only be graded on the voice…

[notin]

23 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

They sure talk a lot with their shoes in their mouths.

Was it Omerta to promise a big addition after the Devers trade, or was that guy Yoshida?

It was Roman Anthony…

[moonslav59]

11 minutes ago, notin said:

It was Roman Anthony…

He was on the 26 when the trade was made, so when they said they "will add," it meant another.

[Malcolm White]

On 9/26/2025 at 5:05 PM, notin said:

Asking? Plenty of us.

What we lacked were answers 

Such as: "if he's hitting fine and you don't want him to play the field, why does his throwing shoulder matter?" It's all sweetness and light now, but this season has been a big ol' rollercoaster....

He makes a difference on a team that whiffs so much, but he won't play the first two games vs. NY.

 

[mvp 78]

17 minutes ago, Malcolm White said:

Such as: "if he's hitting fine and you don't want him to play the field, why does his throwing shoulder matter?" It's all sweetness and light now, but this season has been a big ol' rollercoaster....

He makes a difference on a team that whiffs so much, but he won't play the first two games vs. NY.

 

Fried has a reverse split. Maybe Cora runs Masa out there?