12:46 pm:Â According to Ian Browne of MLB.com, the Red Sox are hoping Yoshida will be back in the lineup and ready to play on Opening Day.
11:44 am: Masataka Yoshida had surgery to repair the labrum in his right shoulder earlier this month, the Red Sox announced. The 31-year-old sat out the final two games of the regular season as he contemplated how to address the shoulder soreness that had bothered him for most of the year. He underwent an MRI after the season, and evidently, the results convinced him and the Red Sox that surgery was the best course of action.
The Red Sox described the procedure as “successful,” though it’s unclear what that means regarding Yoshida’s timeline to return. The usual recovery period for position players who undergo a labrum repair is somewhere between four to six months. Reds infielder Matt McLain had labral repair surgery this past March and initially hoped to return in August before suffering a setback. Meanwhile, Padres shortstop Ha-Seong Kim had a labrum repair of his own this offseason, and he is hoping to return sometime between mid-April and early May. Kim’s anticipated timeline is slightly longer than McLain’s, but it’s worth noting that Kim’s injury was in his throwing shoulder while McLain’s was not. Yoshida’s injury is also in his throwing shoulder, but as a designated hitter and a left-handed batter, perhaps his recovery timeline will be on the shorter end of the spectrum. If his timeline is similar to McLain’s original goal, he could be ready to return to game action sometime next March.
The 2024 season was complicated for Yoshida in terms of both his injury status and playing time. There was reportedly tension throughout the year between Yoshida and the Red Sox, both because he sought outside opinions regarding a thumb injury against the team’s wishes and because he was unhappy to be limited to a platoon DH role when healthy. Thus, between his injury troubles, defensive shortcomings, and poor performance against left-handed pitching, not to mention any behind-the-scenes tension, Yoshida’s tenure in Boston hasn’t gotten off to the strongest start. It’s fair to wonder if a change of scenery would do him some good, although his recent surgery and the $55.8MM remaining on his contract through 2027 could make a trade difficult to put together.
If Yoshida remains with the Red Sox next season, it’s hard to imagine his role changing all that much. Boston has two of the best defensive corner outfielders in the league, with Jarren Duran manning left field and Wilyer Abreu covering right. Duran can play center as well, but former top prospect Ceddanne Rafaela is far more valuable as an elite defensive center fielder than a stopgap shortstop, and he needs regular playing time if he’s going to improve at the plate. On the offensive side of things, Yoshida is going to need to slowly earn back playing time against left-handed pitchers; he put up a 103 wRC+ against lefties in 2023 but a dreadful 58 wRC+ against southpaws in 2024. Considering the Red Sox will already have at least four lefty batters in the everyday lineup next year – Rafael Devers, Triston Casas, Duran, and Abreu – it’s understandable why Cora might prefer to sub out Yoshida for a right-handed bat at DH. Thus, if Yoshida wants to be an everyday player for the Red Sox in 2025, he’ll need to make a quick recovery over the offseason and come to camp ready to address his weaknesses at the plate and in the field.
olmtiant
Chances now of being moved….. Zilch!!!
RonDarlingShouldntBeInTheHallOfFame
Sox would have to pay most of his salary. I have a feeling they’ll move him.
KingKen
I agree. Yes the Sox will have to cover most of his salary to move him (at least $10M per year of it I’d guess) but keeping him means paying the entire salary and having him take up a roster spot they can probably make better use of for another player.
Blackpink in the area
Yoshida is a 2 win player. He’s overpaid but it’s not a massive overpay. The reason the Red Sox need to deal Yoshida is more about their roster construction and young talent as opposed to a lack of talent on Yoshidas part.
mlb fan
“Not a massive overpay”…When you watch him play(especially defense)It’s hard not to conclude he’s not a player worthy of a roster spot and is being “massively overpaid”. Most teams should have a better all around player in AAA.
muskie73
To be precise: Masataka Yoshida posted 1.4 bWAR in each of his first two MLB seasons but only 0.6 fWAR in 2023 and 0.8 fWAR in 2024.
Fever Pitch Guy
Ken – What you clearly don’t realize is Yoshida has been used as a DH. If he stays with the Sox, it will likely be as a DH.
How do you propose they make “better use” of the DH position?
They are NOT moving Devers to DH next season.
They are NOT moving Casas to DH next season.
So what exactly do you propose? Upgrading with a marginally better DH when the going rate for DH’s iike Schwarber, Ozuna and Bellinger is similar to Yoshida’s salary?
So you want to sell low AND pay $30M of his contract, and then ALSO sign a DH like O’Neill for $21M? So spend $51M for a one-year DH that *may* be a marginal improvement?
Didn’t the Red Sox already make a similar dumb decision last year with a certain skinny tall pitcher? How did that work out for you?
The logical approach is to let him rebuild his value playing healthy over a full season, or at least half a season, and THEN trading him with a minimal amount of salary being eaten.
Fever Pitch Guy
MLB – If he stays healthy next season, your post will not age well at all.
Overpaid? Yes, of course.
Not worthy of a roster spot? Absolutely comical.
Blackpink in the area
Cant say I have ever watched him play but he doesn’t seem to be that bad on defense. As a Cardinals fan I have seen some all time bad corner outfielder defense with Jordan Walker and years prior Berkman and Beltran.
Blackpink in the area
Ok thanks for sharing Muskie. I do prefer Fangraphs WAR but BR is easier to check. Perhaps he’s not as good as I thought he was.
tff17
I agree that it makes the most sense to keep him as a platoon DH, a role that fits his skills. He isn’t going to be Juan Soto, but he’ll be decent enough – and Refsnyder is a solid option on the other half of that platoon. The money is irrelevant, as it is a sunk cost that they can’t recoup in a trade.
His reported complaints are a bit over the top, though. If he doesn’t want to platoon, then he needs to figure out how to hit LHP. And that thumb surgery he wanted would have knocked out two of his better months – July and August this year. The team wants him to be successful as much as he wants to be successful, so maybe they can work together on that shared goal?
KingKen
The team can rotate numerous players through the DH position, using it to maximize the lineup on any given day while also giving players a partial day off. Having an entrenched DH is largely a thing of the past. Sure, for the handful of teams who have a player who hits well enough to hold down that spot the approach works, but most teams don’t have that. I’d rather have that roster spot take up by a player capable of contributing positives on both sides of the ball than have someone with Yoshida’s profile clogging up the spot. He simply doesn’t bring that much to the table.
Blackpink in the area
I think having a rotating DH can be good but its not needed. Ohtani and the Dodgers are making it work just fine. The problem is see with Yoshida is more about him hitting left handed like so many other Red Sox players do or will do soon with Anthony and Teel and Mayer too I believe. You can’t platoon a lefty hitter when there are 7 other lefty hitters on the team.
Dickiesox
Rotate the DH spot to give players a day off.
Joemo
Yep. This is unfortunate.
Hoping he recovers fully and quickly but man I was hoping they could trade him and free up the roster spot for Anthony.
Rsox
The chances were zilch before the shoulder surgery
ZackMorris
Wishing him a speedy recovery. Get well soon, Masa.
NYCityRiddler
More entertainment value watching money flush counter clockwise down the toilet. Ahahaha!
JoeBrady
Moving him would create better balance and fit, but I still think he will be a solid producer. Despite the injuries, he still produced a 112 OPS+. And we aren’t loaded with guys that actually get on base.
Acoss1331
At least he’s productive and isn’t costing an arm and a leg per season. You guys still have Grissom no? I hope he pans out, Sale has been a revelation for the Braves.
runningred
How’d Sale perform in the playoffs?
letitbelowenstein
Sale on his worst day was far better than Grissom.
mrmackey
How did the Red Sox perform in the playoffs?
Oh wait…
mlb fan
“How’d Sale Perform in the playoffs”….Word on the street is that Chris Sale got hurt trying to move his huge trophy case. Clearly, he was just trying to make room for a Cy Young award among his other hardware.
Claydagoat
He was great until they needed him for sure.
tff17
Not ridiculous to play Yoshida and Wong or Refsnyder at DH, using Rafaela to platoon with Abreu in RF (among other things). Not great either.
Over his career, Yoshida has a 121 wRC+ vs. RHP and a 84 vs. LHP. He might not like being used in a platoon role, but with a split like that it isn’t hard to understand. Your typical RHH utility infielder will beat those numbers vs. lefties.
Blackpink in the area
Joc Pedersen has made a nice career as a lefty hitting DH. Yoshida can do the same. A platoon player isn’t a bad thing as long as he’s good when he actually plays.
Youkilyptus
The guy has hit tools. I hope the Sox don’t sell low. Go work on your defense, Masa!
mikedickinson
He’s 31. What you see is what you get, until he declines some more. He’s not getting better at defense at this age.
Blackpink in the area
The Red Sox outfield is notoriously tough. I think he could improve regardless of age.
Fever Pitch Guy
mike – When healthy Yoshida is a .850-.900 OPS hitter, which is what he’s been for more than half his two years with the Red Sox.
tff17
His OPS by month: .832, .962, .742, .844, .640, .656, .736, .549, .898, .897, .633
His median month is a .742 OPS. Only three of those eleven months exceed a .850 OPS.
His two best months so far have been May 2023 and July 2024, both with a BABIP north of .370. Players with limited speed tend to top out around a .350 BABIP in the majors, so it is unlikely that he can sustain that level of production over longer periods of time.
He is what his card says he is. Career .810 OPS vs. RHP, with very weak contact against LHP.
Thec’s
The guy can hit! Keep him
TerryTurnbuckle
No one in Boston has forgiven Shaughnessy for not voting for Ortiz.
A'sfaninLondonUK
@Terry
And thats relevant to absolutely nothing on this thread, with your admirable consistency.
TerryTurnbuckle
Relevancy is subjective.
pohle
and to the insane, relevancy is rare.
letitbelowenstein
Bobby Dalbec: My big chance has come.
Rsox
Extend the QO to O’Neill. If he accepts, problem solved, if he doesn’t, than expect a short term addition that hope will fill the gap and can be easily cut later (Dom Smith reunion?)
tff17
They’ll definitely extend the QO, but there is no way that O’Neill accepts. I don’t think they need any further additions, unless they are ready to cut Yoshida.
Rsox
Obviously they’ll know more by the time free agency begins but “hoping” he’ll be ready by opening day is not the same as knowing that he’ll be ready so i would expect that some sort of contingency is signed (minor league contract) that could be used in the interim