![]() ![]() “I know his interpreter Kei really well and I texted him to tell Yoshida ‘you don’t need to swing so hard, they throw hard here, the ball will fly,’” Jones said. He had a message relayed to his former teammate. Jones watched from afar and wasn’t concerned. Yet the slow start had some questioning the deal. Hitters came to him, he saw the game differently.”Īll of that information gave the Red Sox conviction in signing Yoshida. There was attention to detail and he would make observations on other hitters that stood out. “He asked me if the ball snakes at Fenway in the outfield grass. “When I finally met him, his attention to detail was real,” said Red Sox vice president of scouting development and integration Gus Quattlebaum, who spent weeks in Japan watching Yoshida last year. The Red Sox, like every other team, could not meet with Yoshida until he had posted, so all of their data and analysis came from external observations and conversations with people across NBP. Jones’ description of Yoshida as a Japanese version of San Diego Padres outfielder Juan Soto reinforced the Red Sox’s internal opinions of the player. Jones, a 14-year major-league veteran who played two seasons in Orix alongside Yoshida, was a source of knowledge for the Red Sox, as well as other teams who were scouting him. At the time, the Red Sox’s signing of Yoshida so quickly after he posted in December was baffling for many across baseball. But the Phillies didn’t pursue Yoshida as aggressively without the need for an outfield bat. 34 in Boston was off the table for obvious reasons having to do with a certain Dominican slugger and Red Sox legend. Not only did they not have Harper, but No. ![]() When the Red Sox were scouting Yoshida last season, they were afraid the Phillies would have the upper hand in signing Yoshida given his affinity for Harper. I bet he was locked in on this for a while, understanding he wanted to come here, so it’s refreshing to talk baseball with him.” “For example Javy Báez, he told me, ‘Puerto Rico, good defender, pop, homers’. “He knows the good ones and what they do,” Cora said. As far as homework, he understands what he needs to do to prepare for this.”Ĭora was impressed that Yoshida already knew so much about so many of his Red Sox teammates, as well as others across the league, when he arrived in spring training. ![]() It’s good baseball conversations with him, which I love. In the few months that manager Alex Cora has gotten to know Yoshida, he’s appreciated Yoshida’s intense passion for the game. Yoshida is learning English and finding ways to communicate with his Red Sox teammates and coaches, but baseball talk is the universal language in the clubhouse. 948 OPS, six homers and 24 RBIs in 27 games. After a slow start to the season, Yoshida posted a 3-for-5 night on Thursday and extended his hitting streak to 14 games, the longest active streak in the majors. There was always going to be a learning curve, but for Yoshida to be hitting at his current clip is something that’s impressed even the Red Sox, who banked on his power and on-base potential when they signed him to a five-year, $90 million deal. Yoshida is off to an impressive start in his rookie season, and his intense studying of Major League Baseball while playing in Nippon Professional Baseball for seven seasons has undoubtedly helped ease his transition to American baseball. I’ve experienced some injuries, so I know it’s a lot of work to come back, so that part I really respect.” “Also I’ve heard that surgery usually takes a year to come back to play, but he’s come back to play much quicker than usual. ![]() “I’m really honored to play against him,” Yoshida said through interpreter Keiichiro Wakabayashi. The fact that Harper will be on the field for the first time at home this year after an accelerated recovery from offseason Tommy John surgery feels even more serendipitous for the Red Sox outfielder. A post shared by 吉田正尚/Masataka Yoshida it’s safe to say Yoshida has had this weekend in Philadelphia circled on his calendar since signing with the Red Sox in December. ![]()
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