Masataka Yoshida’s long road to recovery from shoulder surgery looks to be in its final stages, as the outfielder is set to begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Worcester on Tuesday. Red Sox manager Alex Cora confirmed the news to reporters (including the Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham) today, after heavily hinting yesterday that Yoshida was nearing a minor league assignment.
The Sox coaching staff got a first-hand look on Yoshida on Friday when he worked out at Fenway Park, taking batting practice and taking part in outfield drills. As per Cora, Yoshida will indeed be playing in the outfield as well as serving as a DH in Worcester, likely with his shoulder health factoring into how often Yoshida will be used on the grass.
Yoshida’s shoulder bothered him throughout much of the 2024 season, resulting in just a single inning of outfield work with Boston last season as he was otherwise a bat-only player. An October surgery to repair Yoshida’s right labrum has now hopefully corrected the issue for good, even if the recovery process has taken much longer than expected. The initial thought was that Yoshida would be available for Opening Day, though since he was able to hit during Spring Training games but not throw, he was began the season on the 10-day injured list to allow more time to fully ramp up.
As it turned out, Yoshida has now missed over half of the Major League season. He received treatment for a minor back issue at the end of Spring Training, and some renewed soreness in his shoulder led to a cortisone shot and a brief shutdown period from throwing in May. The Red Sox shifted Yoshida to the 60-day IL near the end of May, though that didn’t change his activation status, as the 60-day window was still linked to the start of his initial placement on the 10-day.
It remains to be seen how long Yoshida’s rehab assignment will run. Yoshida told reporters Friday that he hopes to be activated before the All-Star break, while Cora just said “we’ll see how many at-bats he needs. He’s moving well; his swing feels great.”
Now in his third season of a five-year, $90MM deal, Yoshida has hit .285/.343/.433 with 25 home runs over 1001 plate appearances in a Red Sox uniform. Those numbers break down as a .810 OPS against right-handed pitching and a .669 OPS in 252 PA against southpaws, as the left-handed hitting Yoshida has largely been used in platoon situations. Between his subpar left field defense in 2023 and his almost non-existent time in the field in 2024, Yoshida was essentially limited to being a part-time DH.
It made for an uneasy situation from a roster construction standpoint, and certainly less than what was expected from his hefty contract (which was signed by now-ex Boston chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom). Since Craig Breslow took over as the CBO following the 2023 campaign, there has been some trade speculation surrounding Yoshida in each of the last two offseasons, with the thinking being that that Red Sox would love to rid themselves of the outfielder’s contract.
As always, the perspective will change if Yoshida can start hitting, and even duplicating his solid-if-unspectacular numbers from 2023-24 would help the Boston offense. The Rafael Devers trade and Triston Casas’ season-ending knee surgery have opened things up for Yoshida in the lineup, even if it still looks like he’ll be spending most of his time at DH. Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu, and star prospect Roman Anthony will all likely be prioritized ahead of Yoshida for outfield work, regardless of his shoulder health.
Red Sox Nation can’t wait to see Yoshida return! He’s exactly what they need, a great contact hitter who does well in the clutch.
Time to start benching Rafaela or play him in the infield.
Also, Welcome back Tito!!!
Why on earth would you bench Rafaela or move him to the infield? Have you watched any of our games this month? He’s been one of, maybe the best hitter in the team for the last 4-5 weeks. Plus his CF defense is not worth losing to get a bat in the lineup that won’t provide any power
Redsoxx – When Yoshida returns, who do you bench or move from the outfield?
You know Roman, Abreu, Rafaela and Duran can’t all start in the outfield at the same time …. right?
Let’s put this way:
Roman should be starting EVERY DAY
Abreu should be starting against EVERY RHP
Do you give up on Duran? I say no, maybe today’s MLB-leading triple is the start of a hot streak for him.
And then there’s Rafaela. Yes, he’s fantastic defensively this year … but fact is, he’s not much higher right now than his .680 career OPS and he sucks in big situations. Today did you not see him fail to bring home Duran from 3B with just one out? And in another plate appearance fail to bring home or advance Narvaez from 2B?
Okay that’s a lot of information I just provided to support my stance. Now your turn, what do you got?
On Rafaela……”Today did you not see him fail to bring home Duran from 3B with just one out? And in another plate appearance fail to bring home or advance Narvaez from 2B”?
FVP—–Did you see him drive in the 2nd run to tie the game? Did you see Abreu with runners on second and third with one out, and a 2-0 count take his typical upper cut swing and pop up on a pitch right down the middle failing get a runner in…. this is where they lost the game.
Coop – Actually Romy not advancing at all from 2B on what should have been an easy double for Anthony was what lost the game! LOL
I respect that you’re a big fan of Rafaela, but personally he’s the last of the 4 outfielders I’d want at the plate in a big situation.
Let’s see if his OPS is above .700 at the end of the season ;O)
FPG- in a perfect world Rafaela is a good team’s super utility guy. Like Kike Hernandez but 10yrs younger. Unfortunately the Sox have four guys that need to fill that role because Breslow cant build a roster and Cora cant build a lineup correctly.
I certainly dont want to trade Duran. Period. Stop. There isn’t comparable talent coming back, unless the Mariners are giving you one of their top three starters, there is nothing else, and it makes little to no sense to bring back more promising AAA players with Mayer, Anthony, Abreu, Narvaez and Campbell here.
That brings us to Toro, Gonzalez and Hamilton. In my opinion we can trade 2 out of three of these guys, if anyone will take them, because they are so ridiculously redundant.
Not touching on pitching staff today, which brings us back to Rafaela and Yoshida.
Let’s be honest no one is taking Yoshida’s contract. Which leaves us Rafaela. I dont even want to say it, because I really do like the kid. His flaws can probably be overcome by a strong manager and coaching staff. The chase rate, the swinging at the first pitch, the long power swing can be coached down.
The simple answer in my mind is, if you believe the season is over (I do) and know it is imperative to get back a controllable young starting pitching, then, you are shopping Rafaela to the Mariners, Mets, Phillies or Braves (if they get back in it) because unfortunately the Sox have to trade Rafaela.
Why is Rafaela a “super utility”? Gold Glove Centerfielder. The best or tied for best in all of baseball (Crow-Armstrong just as good). Yet, he’s a below average infielder.
It would be dumb to move him around. Your point sounds EXACTLY like FPGs point, almost like its the same person.
Sad – Great post!
I don’t want to trade Duran either, but realistically one of the four starting outfielders has to go.
Duran’s numbers have dropped like a rock, we can’t have a .287 OBP hitter at the top of the lineup.
Everyone knows his issues are psychological. Nobody is surprised …. it’s like an alcoholic who stops drinking for a year, he will always be an alcoholic and could always go back to the bottle at any time.
Without question I believe Duran can return to something close to last year’s form ….. but I’m skeptical that it can happen with Cora and the coaching staff.
As for Rafaela, I’ve said this a million times …… he’s a fantastic athlete, very gifted, but his mental makeup sucks and there’s no guarantee it will improve with age/maturity. As we all know, the brain doesn’t fully develop until Age 25 …. he’s got 80 days left of brain development. LOL
As for Yoshida, I’ll leave you with an interesting question ….. obviously the Red Sox want to play him often and in the outfield so they can showcase him for a trade ….. does trading him and having another team take a big chunk of his contract take priority over playing time for the other outfielders? Personally I don’t want him playing outfield if Roman/Abreu/Rafaela/Duran are all healthy, but we all know management’s top priority is always money.
Reggie – I say super utility in the way that its meant to be, 90 starts over the course of a season and late inning replacement for defense. Not the “plug and play” robots that the new brand of GM (or in this case POBO) thinks they are creating where you play a new position everyday and you are expected to do it well and be unfazed.
Rafaela’s gold glove defense comes with a seriously flawed offensive game.Fast but cant tin the bases either.
On a good team’s you carry that guy. But on a middle of the pack team hes a drag on your lineup.
Just asking then, which of the four do you move? They cant all play together.
Sad – Superb post as always!!!
On other teams with small payrolls, sure Rafaela would likely be a starting outfielder.
But on this Red Sox team, he’s just not a good fit unless he finishes the season with at least a .750 OPS,
1) What is a “plug and play” robot as opposed to making “90 starts” all over the field? That makes no sense.
2) “Serious flawed offensive game” Where? Yes he swings too much but his production is outstanding. As noticed by the 1.5 Offensive WAR he is carrying this year. Maybe you dont watch enough games, but he is constantly coming up with big late game hits.
3) Its a no-brainer. You move Duran. He would return the best value while also leaving the two gold glove OFers to stay put. Also, Anthony would look much more natural in LF where he can bulk up without worrying about slowing down.
Reggie – point number 3 makes sense to me, and I’m not opposed to it. My only hesitation is l; we know Duran can do it, and hes been through the grind and even at his young age hes the veteran of the group. Thats what makes me want yo hold on, but I’m ok moving him for a controllable arm.
Point 2- offensively speaking he lacks discipline. In a day and age were swingly out of your shoes on every pitch is encouraged, i think everyone would prefer him to be more patient and make more contact to take his game to the next level. Also, I watch almost every game, no need to insult me. Im not talking about June, yes, hes been very good, but let’s not forget the season had an April and May also.
Point one- analytics driven front office people think every player is competent at three or four positions. On the Sox Hamilton, Gonzalez Toro are tossed out there anywhere. Campbell was in the OF, 2B and they are teaching him first. Yes so.e players can do that. Please dont say Mookie Betts, he is a super star level player and can do that. But even being a utility guy is a skill Kike is good at it. Jose Altuve went to LF and is an absolute butcher out there.
I believe baseball is a craft. Position player learn the skills, the trick and the shortcuts through repition and time. Playing your entire school, minors, etc career at one position then finally making it to the show and being expected to learn a whole new position is the scourge of baseball right now. That’s what I mean.
Im almost 60, I watch 140 Sox games and another game that’s on, no need to insult to make your point stronger. I will read and reflect on things that are contrary to what I think, and you know what, so eti ea I’m wrong. The difference is, ill admit it
Sad – Fantastic post as always!!
One thing about Kike, he sucked at shortstop and second base for the Red Sox. Not sure if he always has, or if he still does.
1) Kike never won a GG. Had he accomplished this, his bouncing around the field wouldve generally ended right there. You dont take someone excellent and then say ‘Okay now do something else youre not doing well half the time’. That is poor management.
2) How do you not know about the late game heroics Rafaela has performed? Not to mention his BA with RISP is great. At the end of the day, CR is 41st out of 24o position players throughout the league. If we strictly look at Offensive WAR he is 81st, which is still well above average.
———
I dont know why you have such a low opinion of a 24 year old player, with less than 1000 plate apperances. And somehow know he will never improve.
Reggie- my original post say, “I really like the kid,…..I dont want to trade him”
Who do you think another GM wants back in a trade for a good- very good controllable SP? They dont want David Hamilton. In order to get a #2 type SP pre-arbitration you need to trade a potential all star. That leaves Duran and Rafaela. I like Duran, you like Rafaela, but unfortunately I believe one of those two guys is going.
FVP… I like Rafaela and can tolerate less offense from a guy a that plays Defense the way he does. I just don’t get the fascination with Abreu. He is an above average Utility Player basically with some pop that can’t hit Lefties with Major holes in his swing. Rafaela’s swing is actually decent, it is command of the strike Zone where the problem lies.
Coop – That’s a fair question about Abreu!
Here’s a simplistic breakdown:
He won a GG as a rookie, and he did it playing the most difficult outfield in MLB at Fenway.
He’s having another strong defensive season.
He’s been a consistently good hitter with a 119 OPS+ for his career, same as his 2025 OPS+
Now compare that to Rafaela, who has just an 88 OPS+ and hasn’t even been nominated for any GG.
Can you see why so many value Abreu a lot more than they do Rafaela?
Sure Abreu hasn’t had a lot of success against LHP, but that’s primarily because Cora refuses to allow him to improve against them.
As for Rafaela’s swing, all the announcers and analysts have pointed out he’s got a homerun hitter mentality but is more suited for line drive swings. In fact the whole team changed their hitting approach Saturday from huge launch angle to line drive …. worked out pretty well, wouldn’t you say? LOL
“I really like the kid,…..I dont want to trade him”
Was relating to him being a super utility backup. I was talking about his bat, or more specifically why you were hating on his bat so much.
Here’s what you said about his bat:
“Seriously Flawed Offensive Game”
comparing him to “players swinging out of their shoes”
That I dont get. He’s 24yo and is projecting to have over a 5.0 War, nearly half of which is offensive. Rafaela currently has a 1.5 Offensive War and a 1.6 Defensive War. He is the better value and would ironically probably return less than Duran. Therefore Red Sox should trade Duran.
________
Also, who said anything about trading “David Hamilton” for a “Number 2”? Not me. Why bring it up?
Reggie- I think the point that I’m trying to make, and have said a number of times is this, “you have to give up something to get something”.
I like Rafaela, I think he is extremely athletic. I think he has upside. I dont think hes been coached very well at all.
One of the OFs has to go. No one is taking Yoshida. Abreu doesn’t have a ton of trade value. Anthony isn’t moving. And, by the way, The Password plays OF also.
To me, Rafaela has the most value because of his upside and his contract is extremely team friendly. More value than Duran.
So, we’re all playing GM here, you cant keep them all and continue to throw Crochet and then four mediocre SPs out there. Who brings you back a mlb experienced #2?
Sad – Isn’t it crazy that some people here STILL don’t understand the Red Sox can’t keep four young, talented outfielders.. I do have sympathy for those with learning disorders, but after people have explained over and over you can’t fit 4 players into 3 positions if they are all worthy of playing every day, you’d think they’d finally understand?
Agree with everything you said there. Except I dont understand why you think I want to keep every OF. I dont.
Here is copy and paste of my position from earilier in the thread. Maybe you missed it:
“Its a no-brainer. You move Duran. He would return the best value while also leaving the two gold glove OFers to stay put. Also, Anthony would look much more natural in LF where he can bulk up without worrying about slowing down.”
FVP… Launch Angle is basically Abreu’s swing in a nut shell. He needs to throw “the top hand over” more… especially with two strikes. As far as his defense goes… for me I don’t use these stupid Defensive Metrics to form opinions… I use the simple Eye Test. Abreu and Duran have both had sub par defensive season so far. Rafaela needs to hit the freakin Cut off man….. but again the defensive problems go completely on the Manager, no matter how much he wants to blame the Minor League instructors.
Coop – Those are excellent observations, I can tell you follow the team closely which is fantastic!
I think defensively for both, especially with Abreu, their tremendous defense last year has raised expectations. I’m not a huge fan of defensive metrics either, but they do have some value.
Yeah I agree on Cora, when you look at errors being made by Romy and Wong and Bernardino and other veterans there’s no way you can blame the Sox minor leaguers.
Well my guys Abreu and Story had sensational games tonight. Sox got lucky with Burns tipping his pitches and Elly falling down in the batter’s box, but a win is a win.
@FPG This is one of your poorer takes.. Rafaela is currently a top 50 player in baseball on pace for nearly 6 WAR, and offensively he has a higher OPS than Duran on the season.
He has been fantastic in June and is showing a lot of striking similarities to PCA – while locked up to an extremely team friendly contract. He def is a must play everyday unless his bat drops below .200
I think he was being funny
High – I already explained my position up above, but what is your take on what to do when Yoshida returns?
Honestly I don’t blame you for being down on Duran, but his underlying stats are much better than Rafaela’s and do you really want to move Duran to 2B or get rid of him?
Keep in mind when Bregman finally returns I fully expect Mayer to shift to 2B.
HPT – the Sox have five OF’s, a nice luxury to have. They have two SP’s.
You have to give something to get something, how do we turn an OF into a SP when we all know that there isn’t a single mlb team that is taking on Yoshida’s contract?
Simply, someone has to go
Sad – Excellent post as always!
Yes that seems to be the problem with some people here, they have the tunnel vision “Rafaela must play CF every day” but not the critical thinking capabilities to realize there currently isn’t a way for him to do that without getting rid of another outfielder.
And when you ask them specifically who should be moved, they have no answer. Typical of them, quick to criticize and yet they themselves don’t have a solution.
Carole King “But it’s too late baby, now, it’s too late…”
Rafaela is arguably the best defensive CFer in baseball, is on pace for a 6 WAR season, and has been the Red Sox best hitter in the month of June with a .863 OPS. A lot of his value would be wasted playing in the infield, and to suggest benching the Red Sox best overall player over the past month in favor of an extremely mediocre DH in Yoshida who has little power and can’t hit lefties is just a really bad take.
HBan – You’re the third person here to criticize my take, but at least you explained your position.
The thing is, you’re not understanding the situation. Didn’t you read the article?
It’s not a matter of Rafaela vs Yoshida, or any player vs Yoshida.
Yoshida WILL be in the lineup against RHP.
So again they CANNOT play 4 outfielders at the same time, and against RHP they CANNOT have one of the 4 outfielders DH.
So if you really think Rafaela should play everyday, WHICH of the outfielders do you want to bench against RHP?
It seems like an outfielder trade is inevitable, I hope it’s not Abreu. If it’s Duran I can tolerate it. One thing is certain, it won’t be Roman.
Rafaela…
Thos post just makes me think FPG just wants to stir the pot and see what opposition he can get…
My thoughts are that one of Duran or Abreu gets traded. Hate to see it happen. Hate to see Duran get traded, but if we keep losing, I think it happens and his stock is probably highest now to trade. I do agree with FPG on this much apparently…
FVP…. gotta disagree with you here… Abreu needs to be the one traded. He can’t hit Lefties, his defense is nowhere close to being gold glove caliber. His approach at the plate is terrible. Throw him fastballs at the top of the Zone and he is basically an automatic out.. As for Duran, he really needs to work on drag bunting and hitting the ball to left…. especially versus lefties
There team defense sucks so you take out probably the best fielder,especially in the demanding center field of Fenway.
I would rotate them.5 players for 4 spots.If there is a lefty sit a lefty.I don’t see a problem.Rafaela has kept some games close because of his catches.Duran shows real speed when he is in a slump and rolls over balls to the first baseman or Second baseman.I say Rafaela stays in the lineup and rotate the other guys with who gets hot.You still have Refsnyder too.
their.
Coop – I don’t really understand how the reigning Gold Glover who is currently 11th/12th best among all MLB outfielders is nowhere close to being GG caliber?
We’ll have to agree to disagree on this one ;O)
It won’t be CR. He’s only going to get better, and he’s locked up through 2031 on what should turn out to be a great deal for the Red Sox.
New – You said that last year, and he got worse …. much worse.
Let’s revisit at the end of the season. One good month doesn’t eliminate the career .282 OBP and 88 OPS+
Uh… He won the Gold Glove award last season, and he is having a pretty good year in RF so far this season.
TB – Abreu has an .832 OPS vs RHP
Duran has a .792 OPS vs RHP
Anthony has a .805 OPS vs RHP
Yoshida has a career .810 OPS vs RHP
Ref and Rafaela have a .713 OPS vs RHP
They are NOT gonna randomly “rotate” 5 outfielders when Abreu, Duran and Anthony are tremendously better against RHP who BTW comprise 75% of all pitchers.
Ref and Rafaela should sit against RHP, unless Rafaela plays infield. It’s as simple as that.
And oh by the way, it was confirmed in yesterday’s chat.
FPG….I agree with trading Rafaela. If we are to actually be competitive our pitching has to get better. We are extremely deep as an organization in the outfield. Even if we trade Rafaela, Yoshida is not getting play time over Abreu in the outfield. I know I’m getting sick of Walker Buehler, he needs to be replaced. That experience is a failed one as far as I’m concerned. I also don’t think you will ever get better value for Rafaela than right now. There’s not that many young 6 WAR guys. We got a top 10 run scoring offense that is in the bottom 10 of giving runs up. Giolito seems to be coming around if we could get a solid innings eating #2 or #3 we could do something.
Cooper….I think you got to think of the return you’d get back. Rafaela or Duran right now could yield a MLB caliber starting pitcher. We need pitching and those are the best two pieces to dangle to get a starting pitcher. I can’t keep watching Walker Buehler suck, the fans are going to get really hard on him soon. Abreu doesn’t net a good enough return to change things.
FPG has the worst takes on MLBTR.
1) Yoshida doesnt join the Red Sox for a week or two. My guess right after All-Star break.
2) He will be DH not playing in the OF.
3) To unclog the OF, a trade will be made by then, or very soon after.
4) Raphaela is a gold glove CF, last year and this year, he’s the last player to change positions.
bum – I agree Rafaela might be at peak value right now, but the way Cora overvalues versatility so much I doubt Rafaela would be traded. And the contract would make it even harder.
Speaking of pitching, Bailey & Company are looking quite bad with everyone seeing how quickly the Brewers have unlocked Priester’s potential. He’s been arguably the best pitcher in baseball this month.
And who exactly has Bailey fixed?
CtheD- I believe one of Duran or Rafaela go. In my opinion Abreu doesn’t have any real value to bring back what we need. IMO, We need need to bring back a controllable SP, or a righty major league 1B.
If we trade Duran, we are left with an OF that has played 260, 243 and 18 major league games. I dont know the answer, but is that ok to count on?
King- I agree. luckily Gio and Buehler are gone after this year. We need SP’ing. Theres no way around it. Also, I’m not sitting around waiting for Criswell or Dobbins or Fitts to grow into being a #2.
We have to deal Duran or Rafaela (pick your piison) for a controllable arm.
FPG- Bailey is all set on making Kyle Harrison an Ace.
In fact, right after the crack pitching apparatus of the Red Sox got their hands on him he went out and gave up 8hits and 4ERs in 4 innings in AAA
Sad – What’s even worse, did you see Houck’s performance yesterday? Wow did the Red Sox screw him up. From All-Star Game starter and Cy Young candidate to struggling AAA pitcher, and it took only a few months.
FPG- I guess conversation for another thread, but, I dont love this idea of an “organizational pitching philosphy”. You’re taking players who have been successful for who they are and putting them into a cookie cutter mold to make them all the same, even if its to their detriment.
Sad – It’s indeed an idiotic philosophy.
Stripping away a player’s strengths just because they do things differently will never end well.
It should be all about results, not about how everyone gets there.
@Sad….I think an organizational pitching theme makes the entire team more predictable and easier to hit against. Having said that, wouldn’t ya trade for dudes who fit your mold? If Houck doesn’t naturally do what you want, then why hasn’t he been traded?
@FPG….The greatest pitching coaches mold their philosophy into the team they have without hurting the pitcher. I bring up one of the greats Leo Mazzone who was the pitching coach of the 1990s Braves. John Smoltz and Greg Maddux as far as stuff went are S different as night and day. What Mazzone did was tell them to expand the strike zone away slowly throughout the game. It worked like a charm Smoltz, Maddox, and Glavine who each possessed different Hall of Fame stuff worked the philosophy in their own way.
King – they took their existing pitching staff and said, we’re ending our relationship with the fastball as an out pitch and throwing secondary pitches the majority of the time. In essence, pitching backwards, but not as a middle of the game change, all the time.
It worked for exactly half a season last year, in the second half of the season the league caught up to it. If you watched the Netflix series it drove Bello screaming crazy, and it may have permanently broken Houck.
King- i think what you’re describing is different from what the Sox tried to do. You say that the three guys on the Braves had different stiff and Mazzone told them to expand the zone. You’re right that is a pitching philosophy. Mazzone was making the most out of the three individual styles.
The Sox are telling their pitchers to throw the same pitches, in the same way and at the same time in counts. This makes them more alike (unlike what the Braves did) and more importantly more predictable to hitters
Sad – It will be interesting to see who starts tonight’s game for the Sox.
Michael Fulmer is waiting by the phone since his recent DFA
LOL
Ceddane was taking much better AB’s before the losing streak. I do wonder if they will give him some reps at 2B to be part of soft platoon with Mayer when Bregman comes back but they aren’t going to bench the only actually good Fielder they have
Rsox – Abreu is 12th in DRS and 11th in OAA among all MLB outfielders, that would qualify as good.
Yoshida is a platoon DH. I am sorry this is so hard for you.
You are here to argue, nothing more, nothing less.
Align – Not sure whose post you are responding to, but everyone here and all of Red Sox Nation knows Yoshida will play primarily against RHP.
I personally have stated “RHP” at least a dozen times.
So why are you being argumentative by arguing about something that is non-existent? Hmmmmm …..
As sad as it is, Yoshida would easily be the best hitter on the active roster. He definitely has the ability to hit .300 with an.800 OPS. I know there are guys with a current OPS higher than that, but none of them has shown it’s sustainable from their past history.
He’s massively overpaid, but at this point, any professional hitter would help.
Bring on the haters!
Provo – If anybody would know where to find them, YOU would! Hahahaha!!!
Hater here. He doesn’t fit the criteria. He’s a DH / left fielder. We need another guy who can play multiple positions. Rumor has it he caught a couple of innings in little league . Possibility he slide in as a catcher. lol
dog – Yoshida could easily be a .900+ OPS guy, that is definitely a big need for the Sox right now.
Yoshida played professionally in Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan and has spent 2 years with the Red Sox, what have you done aside from little league, B dog 351?
Yoshida will never be a .900 OPS hitter. He has no power and no speed. In 1,000 PA, he’s at .776. Come on, FPG.
WHAT?
Now way. Love Yoshi. Will be nice to see him back.
let – The return of Macho Man!! Oooh, yeah! Dig it?
They want him healthy and producing as a trade piece. It’s selling season.
Burn – Agreed, Yoshida playing LF will be only to help showcase him. I don’t think he gets traded at the deadline, but if he puts up a strong second half he’s definitely gone this coming offseason.
The post states “Yoshida’s shoulder bothered him throughout much of the 2024 season, resulting in just a single inning of outfield work with Boston last season as he was otherwise a bat-only player. ” I’ve seen this claim abbout his shoulder being the reason he was kept out of the outfield, but it’s wrong. Per the Boston Globe after the Red Sox final game last year (9/29/24): “Yoshida played just one inning in the field this season. However, manager Alex Cora said that the injury wasn’t the reason why he saw such limited action.“ We had the other guys,” said Cora. “And I think we accomplished a lot of things playing those guys in the outfield. Our defense was better. And then Masa did his thing as a DH.”
TJ – Yeah as we all know Cora is a double-talking pathological liar, so it doesn’t surprise me he gave two different reasons for not playing Yoshida in the outfield last year.
boston.com/sports/boston-red-sox/2025/01/11/mlb-re…
“Our outfield defense was great last year, but in a perfect world, if he was healthy, he was going to play the outfield,” Cora told reporters. “The throwing part of it wasn’t there so that’s the reason he actually didn’t play.”
FPG such a hater…must be a democrat…
Provo – That’s rich coming from a kid who just yesterday spammed the comments section with hate-filled posts about Red Sox legend Raffy Devers.
And it’s particularly dumb to call me a “hater” when I just posted how much of an improvement Yoshida will be.
Listen kid, you know the deal …. one more post like that and you’re muted again. I have no time for trolls like you.
I disagree with Fever Pitch Guy often, but he is spot on in his characterization of Cora. He is a pathological liar who talks out both sides of his mouth, and for such a “player’s manager” he did a terrible job mediating the Devers saga. He is growing less popular with Red Sox fans by the day, and deservedly so. I have never been a fan of his and never will be. It remains mind boggling to me why ownership holds him in such high regard.
HBan – Cora was the main culprit in the Devers saga.
Cora is the one who pushed hard for Bregman.
Cora is the one who kept insisting if they sign Bregman he would play 2B.
Cora is the one who said Raffy’s defense last year was “excellent”.
Cora is the one who repeatedly said all offseason that Raffy will definitely be the 3B this year.
When it was decided to ask Raffy to play first base, Cora refused to talk to Raffy about it …. he passed that task onto Breslow.
What kind of manager refuses to talk to his players?
But yet he gets a free pass …. he’s the Eddie Haskell type who causes turmoil and then insists he had nothing to do with it.
Such a thin skin Fever. Seems like you are making time for me. You take the bait…
Hate filled, really? Disagreeing with someone is hateful?
Prov – I don’t shoot from the hip, I give second chances by waiting to see how things play out. Patience is part of being mature.
It’s not “thin skin” to not want to waste time on a troll, which you just admitted you are.
Time’s up.
Cora is the problem…. When Yoshida is back in the fold all you are going to see is a rotation of all the parts, everyday changing lineups and more the same for the Boston “utility” Sox.
HBan22…. spot on
You can’t cure the disease until you get rid of the infection and Cora has been what has ailed this team for years.
always someone who has to shoehorn in a terrible political take
I’m devastated…
You’ll get over it.
The claims about Yoshida’s shoulder are not mutually exclusive. He absolutely could have had a shoulder problem all 2024 as did Kutter Crawford with his knee of which nothing was mentioned about either case. Yoshida’s defense also sucks compared to Rafaela in CF, Abreu (gold glove winner) RF, and Duran (gild glove finalist) LF, so both reasons for no Yoshida in LF are more than plausible!
Cora is not going to announce to the media XYZ player is injured no more than Trump is going to tell the media when he will bomb Iran….
Don’t be a politician bud… your post already sounds like fake news. I question credibility.
Cora – very weak BUD
It’s weak to bring up politics at a baseball forum about baseball
I was thinking 1b but then. Realized Eddie Gadell would be a bigger target…oh and a certain RRP… 0.00 last 7 games and a whip of 0.68… any guesses???
It’s spelled Eddie ‘Gaedel’ and he won’t be a bigger target at 1B than Yoshida, even David Eckstein would be a bigger 1B target.
Harry Chappas???
Dairy Queen?
99.9% credit PCA for Cubs success… True baseball fans know better!!!
hayzee – I’m done with DQ. They just revised their points redemption and now you need 50% more points for the same rewards. They are probably in financial trouble.
It’s a shame because their Blizzards are truly awesome.
Wow dude. I strongly recommend not spending your entire life posting on mlbtr arguing needlessly with no endgame in sight.
Given the length of your comments and the number of comments, it’s obvious you are missing out on life. Go outside for 5 minutes without your phone.
Align – So what you’re saying is you don’t like Blizzards?
Try the Choco Brownie Extreme, it’s awesome!
And they are made so thick that they are served upside down ;O)
Vanilla with butterscotch coating.
hayzee – Vanilla is so …. vanilla.
I used to love butterscotch candy, I don’t think they make it anymore though.
Syracuse next weekend. Cheap weed and hookers. Or so I’ve been told.
I heard great weed and cheap hookers. Abundance!
Any Sox OF is tradable except for Anthony. I’m fine if someone gives up something decent for Abreu. I’d hate to give up Rafaela because of him turning CF into a graveyard. But an offensive upgrade in CF would be great.
Which takes us to Duran who is probably the one that gets the best return. If the Sox really want to add a significant SP and go for it this year, Duran will be part of that package.
So many downsides to dealing Duran though. Who hits leadoff? The PR nightmare of trading off yet another star. The Wally head HR celebration would have to end.
I think dealing Abreu would hurt the least, but they’d have to include decent some good prospects for any sort of ML ready return.
Roman Anthony is best suited for LF defensively and has hit lead off the last couple years. He also draws a lot more walks than Duran, which is why his OBP has been so good. Duran is the obvious choice to trade, and he is not as young as you think. Frankly I would be shocked if Duran is NOT traded at the deadline (whether the Red Sox are competing for a wildcard spot or not).
I notice no one is talking about Devers anymore. Since going to SF his batting average is .217. The team has dropped 9 of 13 and is out of the playoffs right now. Including the last 5 of 6 loss being to the Marlins and White Sox. Yeesh.
Getting rid of Devers and letting Bogaerts walk have been two of the smartest moves the Red Sox have made over the past 3 years.
Reggie – Absolutely agree! Bogaerts was not good his last year with the Red Sox. His defense had been average to below his whole career, and although his BA was ok his hard hit and extra bases were trending down. The Red Sox had better options coming (Story at half the price and Mayer). Devers money will redeployed to Bregman and extensions.
I think the Red Sox biggest problem is scoring less runs than the other team.
I think that arguing someone needs to be traded to make room for Yoshida so he can be showcased to be traded makes very little sense. I wouldn’t put any eggs in the basket of Yoshida performing well in the outfield. But Even without Yoshida it’s crowded.
How about trying to flip Duran for Matt Olsen. We need 1B, they need outfield. Let’s stop relying on Casas to someday be that 40 Homer guy and get a proven slugger on a longer contract. You won’t be able to trade Rafaela for Olsen, Duran has the proven record.
Even with this trade, I believe we still have the excess position player prospects to trade for some higher end pitching (password, arias, bleis). It solidifies out outfield, improves our offense, and it doesn’t mess with the 3B/SS/2B situation once bregman returns. Thoughts?
Pedroia – I like your handle!
Ironically, a well known former Red Sox player is famous for stealing kids lunch money ….. any idea who it is? ;O)
So my first thought is this ….. you start off by saying nobody needs to be traded when Yoshida becomes the DH against RHP ….. then you propose trading Duran?
So which is it? If none of the 4 fulltime outfielders are traded or moved, how will they manage to play almost every day when Yoshida is DH’s for 75% of the games?
Hey Fever, I was only suggesting that trading one of our outfielders to make room for Yoshida is not a good motivation for trading someone. I’d like to see Yoshida in a very limited role with the Sox, because as has been said a lot, he’s almost untradeable. I guess what I’m trying to say is that if we traded Duran, I still wouldnt want Yoshida in the outfield, that’s all.
Pedey- any thing that would get us Olsen is ok by me.
My only thought on trading an OF is its harder to get a controllable arm, so I would prefer to trade for a SP. There is always a better chance to get a 1B vis free agency or salary dump
Sad – Acquiring Olson at the deadline means they would be forced to trade Casas and other teams would have major leverage.
And then what do you do with Campbell? He may not have a position.
I agree, pitching is the priority.
What are your thoughts on Casas’ future with the org? I hate the idea that we’re tied to him till he stays healthy AND produces for a prolonged period of time when he’s already shown some pretty subpar defense. I’d prefer the current platoon to casas returning at this point.
lunch – I think it all depends on how he recovers from his latest injury. He is a high upside player, it’s hard to forget how dominant he was 2 years ago. But the extensive injury history and baggage are probably why he was shopped around last offseason.
For sure, very valid point. I was just thinking out of the box to help an inconsistent offense if the trade market doesn’t materialize for a quality SP.
The 1975 Red Sox had four outfielders.
The 1986 Mets had six outfielders.
The 2024 Dodgers had eight outfielders.
The 2052 Poughkeepsie Puffballs will have twelve outfielders.
Yoshida’s rehab is primarily for scouts to see if he has anything left in the tank. If the Sox bring him back, it will be reluctantly.
Did Rafaela win a gold glove? News to me
He didn’t play in the outfield because he’s not very good at it. Shoulder injury or not he’s a weak thrower – if he plays OF for Boston (at all) it’ll be home games where LF is much shorter in length.