{"id":2582,"date":"2024-10-30T12:05:45","date_gmt":"2024-10-30T12:05:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=2582"},"modified":"2024-10-30T12:05:45","modified_gmt":"2024-10-30T12:05:45","slug":"2024-red-sox-in-review-masataka-yoshida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=2582","title":{"rendered":"2024 Red Sox in Review: Masataka Yoshida"},"content":{"rendered":"

2024 In One Sentence<\/strong><\/h3>\n

While he was a Chaim Bloom signing and not added under the current administration, an \u201coutfielder\u201d who plays exactly one inning in the outfield over a season while hitting .280\/.349\/.415 is an odd player.<\/p>\n

\n

I don\u2019t know? He bathed, now he\u2019s roaming the ship. He must be the only engineer in Starfleet who doesn\u2019t GO TO ENGINEERING<\/strong>! -B\u2019Etor, Star Trek Generations<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Positives<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Ok, bear with me: Masa was better in 2024 than 2023. That\u2019s definitely couched with a number of conditions: he wasn\u2019t available in the outfield when the team needed more players, he only played 108 games vs 140 in 2023, and we don\u2019t know if he can physically handle a full MLB season based on what we\u2019ve seen. However he bested his WAR numbers at FanGraphs (0.6 in \u201823. 0.8 in \u201824) while Baseball Reference gave him 1.4 WAR each season. With a smaller base of games played, that\u2019s actually an improvement. And he matched his blistering 2023 run of .316\/.382\/.492 in the first half with a July and August surge of .330\/.395\/.503. That guy<\/em> is probably closer to the player Bloom thought he was signing.<\/p>\n

We can\u2019t always play the \u201dwell if you take away X\u201d game with season-long statistics, but those 15 games in June where Masa was only able to put up a a .204\/.271\/.278 slash is a case where I\u2019ll allow it. Clearly he needed to get his timing back after playing only two rehab games. You want to dream on his big runs. His weeks of consistency. When he\u2019s on it looks like every at bat is competitive.<\/p>\n

The Negatives<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It was a bit of a slow start in April but, at the time, Reese McGuire was hitting so well Alex Cora had to find a place for him and the Sox were flush with guys who could DH on any given day. He made 4 appearances in the first 24 games as a replacement. His slow September? I don\u2019t know. Is his ideal season 80 games? Needing quick offseason shoulder surgery might explain that slump. But someone eating up $18.6 million in payroll every year simply should be better, at all times, than Yoshida. And I get the contract isn\u2019t his fault. Take the money, by all means! Rumors of trading this guy though? There are some high highs but a lot of very expensive lows. If he is truly done using a glove how do you find a spot for him on the 26-man roster, much less convince another team to acquire him?<\/p>\n

Best Moment<\/strong><\/h3>\n

August 16. The Red Sox demolish Corbin Burnes and top the Baltimore Orioles 12-10. Yoshida collects 3 hits including a home run. And it\u2019s a great <\/em>one.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s just well hit. There\u2019s something about the lefty swing you can\u2019t get out of right-handed hitters.<\/p>\n

The Big Question<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I watched or listened to a lot of games this season. I like what he can do as a player, which is separate from \u201cshould they have signed this guy?\u201d But after this season, if you asked me how many games he played in i would have guessed about half. Between the roster crunch and his seemingly forever IL stint, which was followed by a two-week slump, it didn\u2019t feel like Yoshida was around all that much. If he\u2019s playing 108 games – at least – how can Yoshida feel like a win on this team? A platoon DH? Maybe a little more time in the outfield if, say, Jarren Duran or Wilyer Abreu is traded? Is that enough?<\/p>\n

2025 and Beyond<\/strong><\/h3>\n

With three years and almost $60 million remaining on his contract (for a 1.5 win player) the people dreaming of a Masataka Yoshida trade are out of their gourds. Unless the Red Sox are really ready to spend again that\u2019s a big chunk of their budget just to ship him out of town. Or do you attach a prospect to sweeten the deal? Sounds bad, right? Then there is the concern raised by some beat writers that it would alienate future Japanese free agents.<\/p>\n

That last bit I don\u2019t think we can ever fully know. Getting traded is just part of baseball. Guys known for beards and hair sign with the Yankees. Players who want to stay on one coast go three time zones over. Although if the Red Sox wanted, say, Roki Sasaki, it might be slightly<\/em> better for them to have someone that speaks the same language and enjoyed playing in Boston? Not that this is why the team failed to sign Shohei Ohtani or Yoshinobu Yamamoto last offseason.<\/p>\n

For better or worse the Sox and Yoshida are drawn together. Whether it\u2019s a superhero team or not is yet to be seen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some diamonds in the rough for Masa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2583,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\n2024 Red Sox in Review: Masataka Yoshida - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=2582\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2024 Red Sox in Review: Masataka Yoshida - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Some diamonds in the rough for Masa.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=2582\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-10-30T12:05:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/vip-2-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=2582\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=2582\",\"name\":\"2024 Red Sox in Review: Masataka Yoshida - 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