Masataka Yoshida Is the Best Hitless Player In Baseball

Entering the 2026 season, there were debates on whether Masataka Yoshida was even still a relevant piece of the Boston Red Sox's roster. After his rookie season in 2023, the outfielder was moved to the designated hitter spot in the lineup, rarely seeing time in the field and creating a roster logjam. With the Red Sox already having four very good outfielders on their roster, Yoshida was viewed as an expendable player with an onerous contract.

The team was unwilling (or unable) to move Yoshida over the offseason, and he started the season on the major league roster while not only getting into the lineup but also playing some left field. And with the Red Sox offense looking rather thin, both the team and fans hope he can be closer to the hitter he was in his rookie season, when he hit .289/.338/.445 with 33 doubles, three triples, 15 home runs, and 72 RBIs.

The impact has been lacking, but the process has not. Yoshida has yet to get a hit in 14 plate appearances in 2026. He's batting (and slugging) .000. Despite that, he’s put together excellent at-bats and showcased an improved eye at the plate along with patience. While the sample size is rather small, there is a lot to be impressed by. He's averaging a career high of 4.21 pitches per plate appearance, an all-important metric that helps drive starters out of games quicker.

The biggest area of interest is Yoshida’s newfound plate discipline. Thus far, he's been unflappable in his decision making; his outside swing percentage has cratered from 27.3% in 2025 down to 10.8% in 2026.. For good measure, Yoshida has made contact on 75% of the swings, which is also a career best for the outfielder. Last season he only made contact 65.9% of the time when he swung at pitches outside of the zone. Though on the opposite side of things, Yoshida is swinging at a career low 25.4% of pitches thrown to him. It’s clear he’s being more selective about what he swings at and at what point in the count he attacks.

Last season, Yoshida walked a total of 10 times in 55 games. So far, he’s walked six times in his first five games. Despite going hitless, Yoshida has a .429 on base percentage thanks to a walk rate of 42.9%. That will come back down to earth with time, but if the 32-year-old is able to get his walk rate back to the same area code it existed in during his last five seasons in Japan (between 11.5% and 15.7%), it would greatly help lengthen the lineup.

And while the hits haven’t dropped in just yet for Yoshida, there are still positives about the start to his season. Due to his highly selective nature in the early part of the year, Yoshida has put up career high numbers in average exit velocity, hard-hit rate, squared-up percentage, and chase rate. It's fair to point out he's still whiffing far too often (26.7% of the time) for a guy who isn't swinging all that much, but patience is a virtue, especially at the plate.