The Boston Red Sox have been plagued by injuries in 2024 and they finally got a positive injury update for their designated hitter.
Masataka Yoshida left Boston's April 28 game against the Chicago Cubs after he jammed his hand during his second at-bat. There were mixed messages from the team about the severity of the DH's injury — Alex Cora shared in the postgame press conference that he was concerned for Yoshida's hand, while Yoshida himself said he would wait to see how it felt before he underwent any testing or imaging.
Days later, Boston said Yoshida may need surgery on his left thumb and that he would need multiple opinions before a conclusion could be made.
On May 10, 12 days after the beginning of his stay on the injured list, Yoshida confirmed to Japanese media members that he does not need surgery on his thumb. The Red Sox have not revealed a timeline for his return, but Yoshida was initially placed on the 10-day IL and his stint has already expired.
Red Sox's Masataka Yoshida does not need surgery on injured thumb, timeline for return not yet revealed
Yoshida just told Japanese media that after getting third opinion on left thumb all concur he will not need surgery
— Rob Bradford (@bradfo) May 10, 2024
Yoshida's injury came just as his bat was beginning to heat up. Before he started to pick up the pace offensively, Yoshida didn't start a game for a week — when Tyler O'Neill and Rafael Devers were working their way back into the lineup after their respective injuries, they occupied the DH spot over Yoshida, who must've taken that personally. He slashed .318/.375/.477 in his 13 most recent games.
Boston's bats have been quiet as of late and it would be ideal to get Yoshida back in the lineup sooner rather than later. Yoshida has previously described his thumb injury as "a strange case," which may not bode well for a quick return.