Masataka Yoshida's Undefined Role Doesn't Mean He's Out Of Place With Red Sox

From the moment it became clear that the Boston Red Sox would enter the 2025 season with Alex Bregman as their starter at third base and Rafael Devers as their designated hitter, close observers of the team have fretted over Masataka Yoshida's role in Boston. Yoshida is a left-handed-hitting outfielder -- unfortunately for him, the fourth-most valuable such player on the 2026 Red Sox roster. He's also expensive, with a contract that pays him $18 million per season, with two seasons still to run. Over and over during this offseason, we have heard that with Roman Anthony, Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, and Ceddanne Rafaela ahead of him on the depth chart, there is no clear path to meaningful playing time for Yoshida, barring injury. 

That phrase, barring injury, is thrown in, seemingly as an afterthought, when discussing the barriers to playing time Yoshida faces, as if injuries were a remote contingency. In 2025, there was no real role for Abraham Toro, Nate Eaton, or Nick Sogard on the Red Sox roster, barring injury. They combined for 416 plate appearances over the course of the season. David Hamilton, who was supposed to be a bench player, appeared in 91 games and came to the plate 194 times. In baseball, injuries happen.  

Assuming that Triston Casas is able to return to form later in the 2026 season, the five outfielders and two first basemen (Casas and Willson Contreras) on this roster appear to give them one more player than they can accommodate with regular playing time. Many have suggested that the team should trade Yoshida, who is coming off a season in which he was mostly hurt, and who has not been able to put together a complete season since 2023. There is little reason to trade for a player who has such uncertain value. Even a true salary dump seems unlikely to be an available option for the Red Sox. Some have even argued that the best thing to do would be simply to release the outfielder.

Yoshida's time with the Red Sox has not been as successful as anyone wished, but it has consistently been the case that, when he is right, Yoshida has been a productive major-league hitter. In both 2024 (an OPS of .898 in July and .877 in August) and 2025 (an .837 OPS in September), there have been periods where looks like a true middle-of-the-order bat. He has spent so much time either being injured or working his way back from injury, it is easy to forget what Yoshida is capable of. His recent performance on the World Baseball Classic stage has helped remind fans that this isn't someone who is simply payroll fodder.

The idea that Yoshida has no role on this team is based on two parts: Yoshida's modest value as a player and the fact that he is buried on the depth chart. However disappointed in his performance in a Red Sox uniform fans may be, this is an asset with some value. For his part, manager Alex Cora has been quoted both reminding us what Yoshida has been through the last two years and saying that on this team, if you hit, he will find a way to let you play. What about the other piece of the equation? Is Yoshida truly blocked from regular playing time by the other four Sox outfielders? 

With Roman Anthony locked in as the left fielder, that removes one spot from the equation. Wilyer Abreu and Jarren Duran will soak up the majority of time in right field and DH, respectively, and it doesn't help Yoshida's case that both are more proven left-handed hitters. Ceddanne Rafaela has his ups and downs -- in June (.870 OPS) and July (.852) of 2025, he went on an extended heater, but his April (.598) and May (.698) and his work down the stretch (a .583 OPS for August and .669 in September) tell the tale of what was at times a tough watch -- but his elite center field is far too valuable to sit.

So, how might a healthy Yoshida get meaningful playing time in 2026? 

1. Injuries: as noted above, there are always injuries. 

2. Some kind of rotation: most players benefit from a day off or two per week. Playing the hot hand(s), the individual matchups, giving players a breather -- organically, we could see Yoshida getting 2-3 starts per week.

3. Yoshida could be showcased in hopes of facilitating a trade. Opinions of Craig Breslow's trades vary somewhat, but he seems very cognizant that the players throughout the system are assets with value to be managed efficiently. To get any kind of return in a Yoshida trade, the Red Sox will have to re-establish his value. Cora may be relatively aggressive in the first 6-8 weeks of the season in feeding Yoshida at bats. Mid-May is about the point when injury or underperformance may create a Masa-sized hole in some team's lineup. 

One way or another, the proposition that Yoshida has no role on this team strikes me as both short-sighted and unrealistic. Bring back the golden barbells!