Masataka Yoshida

Masataka Yoshida

31-Year-Old DHDH
Boston Red Sox
2025 Fantasy Outlook
Yoshida got caught in a numbers game in 2024 - too many lefty hitters, too many left fielders - and was a DH for all but one game. An early thumb injury had him seeking second and third opinions, and he underwent shoulder surgery following the season. In between, Yoshida was a serviceable contact hitter, slashing .280/.349/.415 with 10 home runs, 56 RBI and a 12.4 strikeout percentage. Two years into a five-year deal, the Red Sox are realizing Yoshida is not only limited defensively but doesn't hit for power, despite a higher fly-ball percentage and launch angle in 2024. He also experienced a significant drop-off against lefties, falling from a .746 OPS to .565. Boston's involvement in the failed pursuit of Juan Soto suggests the club wants a more powerful roster, particularly from the right side, and a more functional one, where manager Alex Cora can rotate players at DH. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
Rest of Season From Preseason
#408
ADP
Signed a five-year, $90 million contract with the Red Sox in December of 2022.
Productive in debut
DHBoston Red Sox
July 10, 2025
Yoshida started at designated hitter and went 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored in Wednesday's 10-2 win over the Rockies.
Analysis
Yoshida made his season debut after missing the first 93 games while recovering from a shoulder injury. His rehab stint was relatively brief for having sat out such a long time -- five games, 17 plate appearances -- but Yoshida was ready for the majors. Boston's outfield was already a logjam with four players for three spots, but they had the DH spot to accommodate the at-bats for all four. Yoshida's return complicates matters.
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Batting Stats
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2025 MLB Game Log
2025
2024
2023
2025 MLB Game Log
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2024 MLB Game Log
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Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
1
1
1
1
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2023
 
 
+22%
OPS vs RHP
2025
 
 
-100%
OPS vs RHP
2024
 
 
+47%
OPS vs RHP
2023
 
 
+7%
OPS vs RHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2023vs Left .663 254 21 5 33 1 .237 .315 .348
Since 2023vs Right .811 762 96 20 96 10 .301 .352 .460
2025vs Left .000 2 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
2025vs Right .885 13 1 0 1 1 .333 .385 .500
2024vs Left .565 108 7 2 14 0 .191 .278 .287
2024vs Right .832 313 38 8 42 2 .310 .374 .458
2023vs Left .746 144 14 3 19 1 .273 .347 .398
2023vs Right .795 436 57 12 53 7 .293 .335 .460
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Minor League Splits View Minor League Split Stats
Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2023
 
 
+10%
OPS at Home
2025
 
 
-100%
OPS at Home
2024
 
 
+6%
OPS at Home
2023
 
 
+13%
OPS at Home
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2023Home .812 499 67 10 64 6 .300 .359 .454
Since 2023Away .740 517 50 15 65 5 .272 .327 .413
2025Home .762 15 1 0 1 1 .286 .333 .429
2025Away 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2024Home .786 206 24 4 27 1 .292 .359 .427
2024Away .744 215 21 6 29 1 .269 .340 .404
2023Home .834 278 42 6 36 4 .306 .360 .475
2023Away .736 302 29 9 36 4 .273 .318 .418
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Stat Review
How does Masataka Yoshida compare to other hitters?
This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • BB/K
    Walk to strikeout ratio
  • BB Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
  • K Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
  • ISO
    Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
  • AVG
    Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
  • OBP
    On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
  • SLG
    Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
  • OPS
    On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
  • wOBA
    Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Hard Hit Rate
    A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
  • Barrels/PA
    The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Expected BA
    Expected Batting Average.
  • Expected SLG
    Expected Slugging Percentage.
  • Sprint Speed
    The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
  • Ground Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
  • Line Drive %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
  • Fly Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.
BB/K
0.00
 
BB Rate
0.0%
 
K Rate
0.0%
 
BABIP
.286
 
ISO
.143
 
AVG
.286
 
OBP
.333
 
SLG
.429
 
OPS
.762
 
wOBA
.336
 
Exit Velocity
96.1 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
64.3%
 
Barrels/PA
0.0%
 
Expected BA
.333
 
Expected SLG
.425
 
Sprint Speed
24.9 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
64.3%
 
Line Drive %
28.6%
 
Fly Ball %
7.1%
 
Advanced Batting Stats
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Additional Stats
Games By Position
Defensive Stats
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Batted Ball Stats
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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Masataka Yoshida See More
Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Masataka Yoshida See More
Past Fantasy Outlooks
2024
2023
Yoshida's first season in MLB came mostly as advertised. His exceptional contact rate carried over, but the rest of his game is still a work in progress. Yoshida recorded ample homers and steals to have reasonable hopes he improves in his second season. An area he can improve immediately is on-base skills. In Japan, Yoshida routinely posted double-digit walk rates, but he worked a free pass just 5.9% of the time in his rookie campaign. Only six of his 15 homers came at home, though 21 of his 33 doubles were in Fenway Park. This makes sense since Yoshida's flyball rate was just 26.9 percent. He swiped eight bases, but wasn't caught, suggesting he could run a little more. Yoshida's defense in left field was below par, which is an issue since his bat doesn't play as a full-time designated hitter. Still, Boston will continue to play Yoshida nearly every day, sitting him against some southpaws despite displaying limited platoon splits. He offers a strong batting average floor, with 20 homers and 15 stolen base upside.
Yoshida's appeal to the Red Sox, who signed him to a five-year, $90 million deal, likely centered around his ability to make contact. Across seven NPB seasons, the outfielder struck out just 9.4 percent of the time and hit .327. Those numbers were even better last year, when he rode an 8.1 K% to a .335/.447/.561 slash line and helped the Orix Buffaloes to a title. That contact ability should help him produce a solid or better average against MLB pitching, but whether he'll do enough else to live up to that free agent contract remains a question, as he offers very little with his glove and legs. His outstanding on-base ability could get him there, as he finished second among qualified NPB hitters in both strikeout rate and walk rate (15.7%) last season. He also has decent enough power, averaging 22 homers across the last five years, but it's possible he is more of a 10-to-15 homer guy against MLB pitching. His contract guarantees him significant playing time early on with Boston, but Yoshida is not a sure thing beyond his ability to hit for a high average.
More Fantasy News
Activated ahead of season debut
DHBoston Red Sox
July 9, 2025
The Red Sox activated Yoshida (shoulder) from the 60-day injured list Wednesday.
Analysis
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Likely returning Wednesday
DHBoston Red Sox
Shoulder
July 7, 2025
Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Monday that Yoshida (shoulder) will "most likely" be activated from the 60-day injured list Wednesday, Christopher Smith of MassLive.com reports.
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Returning during homestand
DHBoston Red Sox
Shoulder
July 5, 2025
Manager Alex Cora said Saturday that Yoshida (shoulder) will return from the injured list during Boston's upcoming homestand, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports.
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Begins rehab assignment
DHBoston Red Sox
Shoulder
July 3, 2025
Yoshida (shoulder) went 0-for-2 with a walk for Triple-A Worcester on Wednesday.
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Getting test run at first base
DHBoston Red Sox
Shoulder
July 2, 2025
The Red Sox plan to give Yoshida (shoulder) some "light work" at first base during his rehab assignment, Sean McAdam and Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com report.
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Preparing for 1B duties?
DHBoston Red Sox
July 5, 2025
Yoshida, who's rehabbing from a shoulder injury, is expected to work on first base drills before returning to the big-league roster, according to Sean McAdam and Chris Cotillo of MassLive.
Analysis
Alex Cora talked about Yoshida's work at first base, and while he's not expected to start at that position any time soon, the Red Sox are preparing him for an emergency. "I don't anticipate him starting at first base," Cora said, "but if something crazy happens, at least he can catch throws and knock down a ground ball." Yoshida has played the outfield exclusively throughout his career, both in Japan and stateside.
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