Red Sox outfielder Masataka Yoshida was placed on the injured list at the start of May due to a sprained left thumb, but after he underwent an MRI it was reported that he would be receiving a second opinion on the injury, with surgery potentially on the table. That ominous signal eventually gave way to a more positive update yesterday after Boston received a third opinion on the injury, with Christopher Smith of MassLive among those to relay that manager Alex Cora told reporters Yoshida’s injury would not require surgery.
While the most worrisome outcome is now off the table for Yoshida, that isn’t saving him from an extended absence. Cora told reporters (including Smith) that the 30-year-old figures to return this season but also noted that the club will “see how he feels in a few weeks.” In the meantime, Cora added, Yoshida won’t be swinging the bat at all. With even the most optimistic reading of that language suggesting the earliest Yoshida could resume full baseball activities is early June, it appears safe to assume that he’ll have missed at least two months with the injury when all is said and done.
The lengthy absence comes at an unfortunate time for both Yoshida and the Red Sox. Now in the second season of his five-year, $90MM pact with Boston, Yoshida got off to a rough start this season with a .229/.302/.271 slash line in his first 53 trips to the plate this season but had begun to heat up in recent weeks, hitting a scorching .344/.417/.563 in his final ten games before being placed on the injured list. If Yoshida was beginning to get into a groove, it would’ve been a relief for a Red Sox offense that had recently lost young slugger Triston Casas to a rib fracture that figures to keep him out of action for the next several weeks, if not longer.
Without Yoshida and Casas in the mix for at-bats, the Red Sox have turned to players outside the organization to add some thump to the lineup. The club acquired first baseman Garrett Cooper from the Cubs and signed Dominic Smith to a one-year deal in recent weeks, though Cooper has hit a paltry .130/.231/.174 in 26 trips to the plate since arriving in Boston while Smith has similarly struggled to a .190/.227/.238 slash line so far in his Red Sox tenure. Both players’ struggles come in microscopic sample sizes and could certainly turn around in the coming weeks, but the tepid starts to their seasons do little to instill confidence in either player as quality options for regular at bats in the middle of the lineup.
Unfortunately, the club’s options in terms of internal help are fairly minimal. Infielders Bobby Dalbec and Enmanuel Valdez are on the 40-man roster at Triple-A, but both players faced even deeper struggles during cameos at the big league level than Cooper and Smith are currently scuffling through. First base prospect Niko Kavadas is hitting well at the Triple-A level this season and could be a potential solution, but the 25-year-old is not yet on the club’s 40-man roster and sports an unsustainable .375 BABIP that’s helped to bolster his numbers.
I wasn’t a fan of this signing from the beginning. Much less so now.
1st was because he’s Japanese and 2nd because now he’s injured… Thanks for letting us know, HBan22.
No Yoshi. No Story. No Casas. Every prospect is at AA who might be able to help, really only Meyer has done well early going there.
Long season ahead. Was pretty much against calling up Kavadas, but might as well and let him sink or swim. Cut Smith/Cooper, replace 1 of the retreads on the AAA roster and let Meyer take over SS there. Lets get something moving
“Long season ahead”
Probably. Almost certainly. But they are still at .500. The more injuries they have, the more games they seem to win. Of course the starting rotation is likely to regress a bit, but there’s a weird, unquantifiable vibe with this team at the moment that translates into wins. The key double plays, the key hits with men in scoring position…they just might maintain this edge-of-contention position all season. And with no one really ready at AAA, well, why not maintain this “(half) full throttle” approach? Maybe they can rent someone like Alonso at the trade deadline and make a run?
I don’t think so. I’d say .500 or slightly better. The team, much like in 22 and 23 is very streaky and had zero clutch late in games when trying to score runs. They even said we are 0 and 14 when trailing in the 7th. Not sure what vibes you are referring to, but I don’t see it. Pitching is good but will regress and I just don’t trust the offense because they don’t know how to come up big in late innings. That is where a veteran leader is needed.
@Gomez, I think their vibe was quantifiable and Devers popped off about it last week. The players had bonded well, quickly becoming a group of friends. Devers complained publicly about all the new faces being brought it, ruining the chemistry.they had built in spring training with those who had been sent down. That is twice now, this year, that Devers has publicly rebuked the FO. Hope he keeps it up because despite each individual’s stats and flaws, they were punching way above their weight class as a team and winning
DBH – I know Devers is not well liked around here, but in his defense (no pun intended!) he is the leader on the team.
He’s the only one with the massive contract.
He’s the only star on the team.
He’s the only one who has been with the team for more than four years.
And he’s the only one who was on their last championship team.
So when he speaks, just as he did last year, it’s typically a reflection of how the clubhouse is feeling. He is also quite popular and respected in the clubhouse, and everyone including ownership expected him to take a leadership role.
@FPG, sorry for the very late response. Was busy in RL.
I think you misunderstood me. There is no reason to defend Devers here, bro. I was given the dude some props.
I agree that his statements probably reflects the club house.
The FO pushed him as The Leader… wonder how they feel about that now lol
DBH – No worries, yeah it seemed like you thought he spoke totally on his own.
And yep, front office probably wishes the leader was someone quiet like Wong or Yoshida.
Not sure who was the true leader between Papi and Devers …. maybe JD for a while?
Gomez – It’s great that you can maintain optimism by pointing to the record, but watching the games and the teams they’ve played points to a more accurate picture of what the Red Sox are and what to expect this season.
The .500 record is meaningless when you look at the teams they’ve beaten and how bad (7-15) they’ve performed against teams that currently have a winning record. Strength of schedule is a huge, huge factor and they don’t have very many games coming up against teams with losing records.
Key hits with RISP? They rank 22 out of 30 MLB teams with a .240 average. Tyler O’Neill is batting just .130 with RISP, which is why Dave Martinez was lambasted for intentionally walking him yesterday to face the much much better Devers. Apparently Martinez owed Cora a favor.
Even if they are within 5 games of a WC at the trade deadline, zero chance the Sox give up talent for a 2-month rental of a player like Alonso. They didn’t GFIN the prior two years when they were still in contention at the deadline, they won’t be GFIN this trade deadline.
I know it’s difficult to think about what could have been this year if ownership had actually wanted to win this season. In the meantime we can enjoy the 12-3 record against teams with losing records, but just be wary of what is likely to come. I wouldn’t expect Jansen, Martin or O’Neill to be on the team after the trade deadline. Hope I’m wrong though.
john – The drawback to the premature sink-or-swim approach is that his value could be diminished if he performs poorly at the major league level. Not an issue for players who have a future with the team such as Teel and Mayer, but with Casas and possibly Devers ticketed for 1B many many more years it’s important to maintain Kav’s trade value.
Either Smith or Cooper could be DFA’d tomorrow if the Sox wanted to bring up Kavadas, neither are standing in his way
Who cares if Java dad is likely to sustain his numbers? They are looking for a temporary fill in, not a permanent replacement. If he works out in future years is not the concern.
So just keep going to new doctors until one gives an opinion you prefer?
Sometimes you go to substantiate the original diagnosis. Who says the first reports suggested surgery?
Lord, if you don’t agree with that, don’t ever get Lyme disease.
Red Sox should have signed Taka Tanaka instead
Lord – If you’re referring to psychiatrists, that’s EXACTLY what many people do!
I have a friend who is one and he has provided therapy to many patients who have gone elsewhere because they didn’t like him calling them out on their crap.
Really it’s no different than people who keep only the friends that always tell them what they want to hear, which is one of the biggest problems in society today … but I digress ….
Fever, there are many reasons to search for a different psychiatrist. While denial is often a factor with the patient, some go to the wrong expert (sometimes you need a knee specialist, not simply an orthopedist) and sometimes the match just isn’t there.
Try telling a patient they are a sociopath they won’t be a patient for long.
The two stiffs they brought in are useless. I would have stayed with Valdez and Bobby D and waited for them to come around. In the words of Lou Brown, “there’s some real talent there”.
Nobby – When the Red Sox inevitably wave the white flag later this season, I fully expect Valdez and Bobby to get called up again.
Wait for them to come around???? lol they aren’t “coming around” period. Btw Cooper has 2 hits so far today…if anyone’s gonna come around it’s gonna be Cooper or Smith. Bobby Dalbec has had literally YEARS to “come around”. Personally, I’m tired of waiting for Dalbec to come around.
I’m going to guess that Cooper and Smith are decent clubhouse guys. In the past, they’ve managed to locate guys who are a spark: Millar, Gomes, et al. This team is basically a .500 team unless they get healthy. If their hitters manage to heal, they could be above .500. Not saying much.
hayzee – It’s a long, long season …. the rosters in August-September will likely look very different than the rosters we’ve seen in April-May.
This team is going to have bullpen burnout. They have pitched the 2nd most innings thus far, just behind the awful White Sox. It seems nobody is going to see a lineup 3 times in a game this year. Cora and Bailey have already decided that.
For what production Cooper and Smith have given we should of kept Valdez and Dalbec up. At least Dalbec was playing winning defense. The gaping hole wasn’t at first base that needed to be addressed it’s at short. Your best outfielder is now playing shortstop? If you were going to sign a band-aid anything that should of been the position of focus.
King – Where did you get that info about 2nd-most innings pitched by relievers?
Sorry but it’s way, way wrong.
Marlins lead MLB with 170 IP
Oakland leads the AL with 158 IP
Red Sox are tied for 10th in MLB with 151 IP
BTW – Houck is 2nd in the league with 52 IP and has already pitched into the 7th three times. Crawford has done it once also.
Fever, there still will be burnout unless you expect Houck to get to 180 innings and other starters also continue to surprise. This team with the new pitching regime does feel different. I just continue to worry about injuries due to the way pitchers throw and are used today. Bailey and yes CBII deserve credit so far.
dewey – I hear what you’re saying, but I’m not worried about Houck. He’s averaging only 94 pitches per start and on pace for 208 innings which is not a lot for a guy in his 20’s.
With the 4 days off in June and 6/7 days off in July he should be well rested. If you’re worried about the postseason, they can always give him extra rest in August and September too.
Babying pitchers in MLB clearly hasn’t helped keep them healthy, so a more traditional approach of building up their stamina and endurance with 200 inning goals can’t hurt.
Given Houck’s injury history and last year’s surgery, I do not overuse him this year. 160 to me is his max.
dewey – Last year’s surgery was on his face after getting hit by a line drive in June against the Yankees (I was about 40 feet away).
I really don’t understand how that injury would impact his health this year, and it was the only injury he sustained last year. Perhaps you are thinking of 2022?
When are they finally going to replace the boring toxic dump of a stadium.
Hall – Yankee Stadium was replaced in 2009.
why not bring Niko up. see what he has got. the worse thing that could happen is he is horrible. best case is he hits well and we have a good problem of where to play him when everyone is healthy.
What if he’s horrible? And he probably will have a K rate higher than Dalbec’s. What do you do then? Keep him on the 40-man but send him back to AAA, thus burning an option year and jamming a 40-man slot? DFA him? Then some team snatches him away. The Sox cannot do anything with Kavadas other than what they are doing at the moment.
Rafaela is a MLB caliber shortstop. He can make all the plays as well as the most difficult. The infield settled down as soon as he took over. He and Valdez were becoming an excellent duo and I would have kept him in the lineup. Bobby D gave you Gold Glove defense at first and would have started hitting. Stick with the kids like the plan put in place and give them a chance.
“stick with the kids.”
Bobby D turns 29 years old in June. He’s far more a suspect than a prospect.
Dwight Evans didn’t become a star player Until he was thirty and sometimes players don’t get it till later. The ones they brought in are terrible.
Dwight Evans was starting for the Red Sox when he was 22 years old. Again, Dalbec is about to be 29.
Very odd example.
Bobby was giving adequate defense at first at best
Bobby hasn’t hit since 2021 he’s not gonna start hitting just because you say so.