Masataka Yoshida has not only been keeping the Boston Red Sox’s playoff hopes alive, but he’s also giving the front office a difficult decision to make this offseason.
By late August, Yoshida appeared finished. He carried a .609 OPS across 35 games, with just one home run that didn’t come off a position player. But everything shifted after Sept. 2. Over 20 September games, he hit .333 with an .817 OPS, playing a key role in Boston’s postseason push. Then, in his very first playoff at-bat on Tuesday, he delivered the decisive blow with a two-run single on the first pitch he saw.
What does Masataka Yoshida’s hot stretch mean for his Boston future?
Right now, Masataka Yoshida feels like an indispensable piece for the Red Sox. When a right-hander is on the mound, there may not be another hitter Alex Cora trusts more in the box. On Tuesday, Cora wasted no time sending him up against reliever Luke Weaver, and Yoshida came through with a line drive up the middle.
No one doubts Yoshida’s ability to hit at the big-league level. The dilemma comes from the fact that he’s earning $18 million a year on a five-year deal while functioning as a platoon DH without much home run power. That naturally raises questions about his long-term fit in Boston.
For months, speculation has swirled that this offseason could be the time the Red Sox finally move on from him—whether through a trade or even by designating him for assignment to open up roster flexibility.
Yet history keeps complicating that narrative. Every season in Boston, Yoshida has had a stretch where he almost single-handedly carries the offense. This year, his hot streak arrived just as the rest of the lineup faltered, making his impact even harder to ignore. Does that kind of streaky production have more value than the analytics suggest?
How he finishes this postseason could swing the conversation. A strong October might make the Red Sox look shortsighted, even reckless, for considering a move away from him—whether or not it’s the right call for long-term roster balance.
Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has already shown he’s not afraid of making tough, unemotional decisions. But even for him, pulling the plug on Yoshida may not be as clear-cut as it seems.
