2025 In a Discarded-On-The-Dugout -Floor Nutshell
Facing injury, rehab, and a crowded roster, Masataka Yoshida had to wait as long as possible every step of the way in 2025.
In 20 games during September, Masa came to life, hitting .333/.351/.486. The batting average might be a bit fluky but his OBP was .338 and.349 in 2023 and 2024, respectively, so .351 isn’t totally out of bounds. This was the first time we really saw Yoshida fully healthy and up to game speed in over a year.
Entering 2025, the DH had offseason shoulder surgery which was apparently part of the reason for why he didn’t appear in the field the prior season. Was that the only reason? Did Alex Cora simply not trust him out there? We don’t know, but it sure didn’t help. And while he participated in Spring Training, the ultimate call was made to place him on the IL for rest and rehabilitation as opposed to going on a rehab assignment, which would have triggered a countdown clock before he would need to be activated. With a surplus of outfielders and Rafael Devers at DH, there was simply no room on the 25-man roster for Massa. Which, possibly, contributed to the massive amounts of rust and struggling when Yoshida was finally activated.
The rest of it. From his activation on July 9th until the end of August, the Sox’ DH hit .224/.281/.328 with just two home runs. That’s bad, and when you consider that he was playing a bat-only position, it goes from bad to terrible. Masa provided the Sox with nothing for weeks on end. There was a tiny bit of speculation that the July call-up was intended to audition him for a trade, but the years and dollars remaining made such a deal unthinkable, and as the days went on it was clear that there was no deal to be made. Every time bat stuck ball the result was a grounder to second base. At least it seemed that way. Over and over Masa was fooled or made weak contact. Where was the bat control? It had vanished. As injuries continued to pile up the Red Sox simply had no alternatives if Yoshida wasn’t himself going to hit the IL. He couldn’t go to the minors. He had to keep appearing in the lineup.
Wild Card Game 1. Masa comes into the game, gets a hit, drives in 2 runs. The Red Sox, of course, won that game 3-1. That was the icing on the sundae of his September/October. He got another hit in Game 2 and two more in Game 3. He was back.
Is Masa able to play left field? That’s going to play a role in determining his future.
The Red Sox definitely need right handed bats and power, but one of the themes of 2025 was the strikeouts. Baseless loaded? Strikeout. Runner at third with one out? Strikeout. Basically every time they could be scoring, the Red Sox instead hit the strikeout button. Masa’s bat-to-ball skills counter that. But he can’t play DH exclusively. If he sticks around for the next two seasons, he needs to be part of the outfield as well. With Jarren Duran and/or Wilyer Abreu likely to be traded for pitching, Yoshida will be part of a shallower pool of outfielders and if he’s trusted on the grass that goes a long way towards building a functioning lineup.
