Parts of the Boston Red Sox's offense has been slow to start in the first month of the 2025 campaign, and the inconsistency in the bats has some fans asking about Masataka Yoshida's recovery progress.
Boston's 2024 designated hitter underwent surgery to repair a torn right labrum over the offseason. He hasn't appeared in the big leagues this year but played in 11 spring training games and looked just fine at the plate, with a .286/.286/.400 slash line and a homer.
He was placed on the 10-day injured list on March 24 and the Red Sox have since been quiet about Yoshida's rehab timeline. On April 15, reporters asked manager Alex Cora if Yoshida was nearing a rehab assignment, to which he responded, "Not yet." Fans received a similar update on April 27, when Cora shared that Yoshida is still not ready for a rehab assignment. Christopher Smith of MassLive reported that he's been recovering at Fenway South in Fort Myers, taking at-bats and following his throwing program.
Yoshida played seven seasons as an outfielder in Nippon Professional Baseball before he signed with the Red Sox after the 2022 campaign. He played 87 games in left field for Boston and racked up three errors, which raised alarms about his defense. The Red Sox transitioned him to designated hitter in 2024, but planned to move him back to the outfield this season after Rafael Devers' move to the DH slot.
Red Sox fans want Masataka Yoshida back in the big leagues after early offensive inconsistency
Alex Cora said Masataka Yoshida is still not close to a rehab assignment.
— Christopher Smith (@SmittyOnMLB) April 27, 2025
Yoshida has always been a bat-first player, which makes the Red Sox's insistence on moving him back to the outfield curious. Not only is Boston's outfield much more defensively sound without him, but he'd be yet another obstacle in Roman Anthony's way of a 2025 debut.
But Yoshida's bat could come in handy due to some of the Sox's early struggles. They rank second in MLB with 277 strikeouts and they've fanned 82 times with runners in scoring position. Yoshida has batted .285/.343/.433 with 133 strikeouts over his first 248 games in the Red Sox organization, and he's known for his unmatched eye for the strike zone from his years in NPB.
Day 33 of telling the @RedSox that they are making a mistake by keeping their best hitter off the roster
— Yoshida Enjoyer (@MasatakaEnjoyer) April 28, 2025
The Red Sox have nowhere to play Yoshida with the outfield full and Alex Bregman and Kristian Campbell are playing too well to slot Devers back in at third base so Yoshida can DH. Still, Red Sox fans across the internet are clamoring to see Yoshida in the big leagues again — exiling him to Florida doesn't help raise his trade value, nor does it reflect favorably on the Red Sox in the eyes of other Japanese players.
The Red Sox need to find a way to get Yoshida back onto the roster. Not only would he help Boston's offense as likely its most consistent hitter, but he also doesn't deserve to spend years of his career on the IL or the bench because the Red Sox don't know how to construct a roster.