Masataka Yoshida, who has been called Japan’s best teaching hitter since Ichiro Suzuki, “legendary.” He hopes to play in the outfield, but as time goes by, he is becoming a “half-player.”
Yoshida was drafted by the Orix Buffaloes in the first round of the Japanese professional baseball rookie draft in 2015. Since his debut season in 2016, he played in 63 games with a 10-homer batting average of 0.290 OPS of 0.854, and the following year, he played in 64 games with 71 hits with a 12-homer batting average of 0.311 OPS of 0.928. This was only the beginning of Yoshida’s stellar career in Japan.
Yoshida proved himself to have no problem with the full-time season, with 165 hits, 26 homers, and a batting average of 0.321 OPS of 0.956, including 37 doubles in 143 games in the 2018 season, and continued his good trend with a batting average of 0.322 OPS of 0.956, with 29 arches in the 2019 season. And the number of home runs fell noticeably in the 2020 season, but he spent his career high season with a batting average of 0.350. 안전 슬롯사이트
Yoshida raised his home runs to 21 again in the 2021 season, and played in 119 games in 2022 with 138 hits, 21 home runs, 88 RBIs, and a batting average of 0.335 OPS of 1.008, and played in 762 games in Japan alone with 884 hits, 133 home runs, and a batting average of 0.327 OPS of 0.960. As a result, he succeeded in signing a five-year, $90 million (about 125 billion won) contract with Boston.
U.S. media and club officials described Yoshida’s contract as an “overpay.” However, the Boston Red Sox did not doubt Yoshida’s performance in Japan, and before joining the Boston Red Sox, he played in the World Baseball Classic with nine hits, two homers, 13 RBIs and a batting average of 0.409 OPS of 1.259 in seven games, contributing greatly to the Japanese national team’s victory. He played in 140 games last year and had an excellent debut season with 155 hits, 15 homers, 72 RBIs, 71 runs and a batting average of 0.289 OPS of 0.783.
Up until last year, Yoshida was indispensable to the Boston Red Sox. However, Yoshida’s position this year is far from that of last year. She revealed both strengths and weaknesses last year. When it comes to hitting skills, the defense that had already been undervalued did not meet expectations. For this reason, Yoshida’s value in defense was not high despite his outstanding offense capability. This makes her position unstable this year.
“We are trying to go back to the good times, but Yoshida’s outfield is missing,” Boston local media “Math Live Dotcom” said on the 24th (Korea time). Yoshida played in 85 games as left fielder last year, but this year he played only one game and one inning. According to “Math Live Dotcom,” Yoshida said in an interview with reporters before the game on the 23rd, “I miss playing outside field.” However, manager Alex Cora drew the line about Yoshida’s use of outfielders, saying, “I have no thoughts at this time.” In defense, there is no expectation at all.
In the midst of this, Yoshida’s position is shaking significantly as he has been sluggish in batting. Yoshida suffered a left thumb injury in late April. Fortunately, he avoided surgery, but the injury left him with a break of more than a month. He then returned to the big league stage after facing the Philadelphia Phillies on the 12th, but since his return, his performance has been limited to 4 hits, 1 RBI, 2 runs and a batting average of 0.118 OPS of 0.336 in 34 at-bats. In particular, with no expectations at all in defense, Yoshida was not listed in the starting lineup at all in the game on the 24th, as his bat cooled down.
According to MassLiveCom, Yoshida said, “It’s not that I’ve never had a hit as a designated hitter. It was the same in Japan. I’m trying to do everything I can to prepare for the game. All I have to do is improve my performance. I’m doing everything I can to get my swing back.” In response, Kora said, “Yoshida will show good performance at bat. It’s only a matter of time before he recovers. He has hit the ball hard,” expressing his strong belief that he will definitely revive.
However, the coach has no intention of using him as an outfielder, and Yoshida is showing no signs of recovery in his batting sense. Yoshida, who was called a “genius hitter” in Japan, is now becoming a “half” player in the Major League.
