![]() ![]() And, more often than not, Yoshida is hitting in the cleanup spot for Boston, trailing only Rafael Devers among Red Sox leaders in RBIs. As of this writing, he ranks 12th in the American League in RBIs, next to Bo Bichette, Kyle Tucker and Hunter Renfroe. Now about six weeks into his first season in Major League Baseball, Yoshida has transferred his plate approach from NPB into a breakout season with the Red Sox. To stateside fans, Yoshida began to prove why Adam Jones, his former teammate with the Orix Buffaloes in Nippon Professional Baseball, once described him as the “Japanese Juan Soto.” And that was on a team with Shohei Ohtani and record-setting slugger Munetaka Murakami. “I have, like, a lot of messages to put Yoshida at cleanup,” Kuriyama said through an interpreter. He struck out just once in 30 plate appearances.Īt one point before the WBC semifinals, Japan’s manager, Hideki Kuriyama, was buried with requests to better utilize Yoshida. He was a run-production machine for the Samurai, driving in more runs than any player in the tournament, including then-red-hot Trea Turner. ![]()
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