The Boston Red Sox weren't expected to be the offensive powerhouse of the American League East in anyone's preseason predictions, but their bats have been more underwhelming that anyone thought. They haven't looked any better a few weeks into the season — Boston only scored three runs in the first 28 innings of its series against the Detroit Tigers despite the 2-2 series split.
Alex Cora has shuffled his lineup countless times to find one that works, but no order has been able to deliver consistently. At a certain point, the Red Sox need to ride the hot bat and play their best hitters. With Wilyer Abreu slumping and Roman Anthony still looking for his rhythm at the plate, that's Masataka Yoshida and Ceddanne Rafaela.
Boston bookended its four-game series against Detroit with wins. Yoshida plated the only run of the Sox's Friday walk-off win in their Fenway Green jerseys. On Patriots' Day, the Red Sox mustered a rare win without a quality start after losing Sonny Gray to hamstring tightness. Rafaela was the hero in the earliest game of the year.
Despite his offensive success, Cora has been hesitant to play Yoshida due to the logjam in his outfeld. Anthony is seemingly nearing his breakout (he walked three times and knocked an RBI single on April 20) and Abreu and Rafaela are indispensable defensively, which makes lineup construction difficult. But when the offense is as inconsistent as Boston's is, Yoshida needs to play as much as possible.
Masataka Yoshida and Ceddanne Rafeala were the heroes of the Red Sox's two wins over the Tigers
The Red Sox have made disgraceful swing decisions early in the season, but Yoshida has largely avoided the trend. His .324 batting average is the second-highest on the team behind Connor Wong and his .477 on-base percentage leads the squad. The Red Sox have only hit 12 home runs on the season, the least in MLB, so they need as manny runners on base as possible if they're not going to score runs by leaving the yard. Twenty-two games into the season, Yoshida has shown he's their best bet.
Besides Yoshida, who hardly counts as an outfielder at this point, Rafaela is Boston's hottest-hitting outfielder. His .286 batting average and .366 on-base percentage both rank fourth on the team. Rafaela started every other game of the Tigers series but entered the finale as a pinch-hitter to plate the 3-3 tiebreaker and an insurance run. Yoshida was one of the two runners who scored in on the Rafaela hit.
It's frustrating to see so many of the Red Sox's recent runs come off the bench, especially when those hot hitters deserve starting lineup spots over some of Boston's other players. Sure, even struggling hitters need to play to break through the early-season stall, but the Red Sox also need to start winning games at a faster pace — they're running out of time for the "it's early" excuse.
The Red Sox's offense needs every advantage it can get, especially while their pitching staff is having trouble. Yoshida and Rafaela have been two of Boston's best hitters and they've earned the right to play as much as possible.
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