{"id":89659,"date":"2025-09-08T07:30:47","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T07:30:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=89659"},"modified":"2025-09-08T07:30:47","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T07:30:47","slug":"red-sox-manager-reveals-reasoning-behind-head-scratching-decision-to-bat-masataka-yoshida-at-leadoff-over-past-two-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=89659","title":{"rendered":"Red Sox manager reveals reasoning behind head-scratching decision to bat Masataka Yoshida at leadoff over past two games"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Red Sox manager reveals reasoning behind head-scratching decision to bat Masataka Yoshida at leadoff over past two games originally appeared on The Sporting News<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The Boston Red Sox made a bizarre choice yesterday, putting Masataka Yoshida, the team\u2019s primary DH, in the leadoff spot. Due to Roman Anthony, the normal leadoff being out, Yoshida ended up being the first hitter up yesterday and today.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Still, it was a head-scratching decision. However, Sox manager Alex Cora revealed in an interview with NESN his reasoning behind the moves.<\/p>\n<p><strong>MORE:\u00a0Red Sox may have a Garrett Crochet problem after facing a problem he&#8217;s never had before<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>[Yoshida] had a good game the other day. Trying to keep Jarren [Duran], Trevor [Story], and Nate [Eaton] together. [They\u2019re] run producers, good with men in scoring position, so giving it a shot, see what happens,\u201d Cora said.<\/p>\n<p>So, the main idea behind the move was to keep the heart of the Sox\u2019 offense hitting together. Duran, Story, and Eaton usually hit third, fourth, and fifth. With Anthony\u2019s injury, Duran got moved to first.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p><strong>MORE:\u00a0Red Sox manager Alex Cora reveals hopefully final update on Gold Glove outfielder&#8217;s return from injury<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Since Cora wanted to move him back, they needed someone else, who happened to be Yoshida. Yoshida also has a .992 OPS with no outs, meaning he\u2019ll get himself in scoring position for those guys behind him, and batting leadoff is a great way to get to the plate with no outs constantly.<\/p>\n<p>Hopefully this idea of Cora\u2019s pans out more, as the Sox were able to win tonight, 7-4. With them moving on to face the Athletics, Yoshida might get a few more games under his belt starting off the night at the plate.<\/p>\n<p><strong>MORE\u00a0BOSTON RED SOX\u00a0NEWS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Red Sox superstar Alex Bregman promises legendary career for Boston&#8217;s latest rookie breakout<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Red Sox predicted to retain $120 million All-Star through long-term extension<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>MLB Analyst believes Red Sox can keep Alex Bregman due to two huge moves they made this season<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Alex Cora finally explains why he put Yoshida in leadoff.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":89661,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[46,47,481,3530,724,761,2947],"class_list":["post-89659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","tag-alex-cora","tag-boston-red-sox","tag-garrett-crochet","tag-leadoff-spot","tag-masataka-yoshida","tag-roman-anthony","tag-sox"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - 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