I raised a question from the outside.”
Yoshida Masataka jumped into the professional stage after being nominated by the Orix Buffaloes in the first round of the 2015 Nippon Professional Baseball Rookie Draft. Yoshida played in 63 games in the first season of his debut, hitting 10 home runs with a batting average of 0.290 and an OPS of 0.854, leaving a mark. And the following year, after playing in 64 games, he hit 12 home runs with a batting average of 0.311 and an OPS of 0.928, firmly adapting to his professional stage.
Yoshida played a full-time season from the third year, and recorded double-digit homers for seven consecutive seasons, participating in 716 games in total, recording 884 hits, 133 homers, 467 RBIs, 418 runs, and a batting average of 0.327 OPS of 0.960. And after the end of the 2022 season, after revealing his intention to challenge the major leagues through the’posting system’, he succeeded in signing a 5-year, $90 million (approximately 114.9 billion won) super-large contract with the Boston Red Sox.메이저사이트
While playing in Japan, Yoshida reigned as the best hitter in Japanese professional baseball, recording double-digit homers for 7 consecutive years and a high batting average of 30% or higher for 6 consecutive years, but after signing a contract with Boston, the reaction was different from what was expected. At the time, Boston fans as well as local media outlets formed a public opinion of ‘overpay’ saying that they had invested too much money in Yoshida, who had not been verified whether he could work in the major leagues.
As Yoshida participated in 7 matches in the World Baseball Classic (WBC), which he participated in earlier this season, with 9 hits, 2 homers, 13 RBIs and 5 runs batting average of 0.409, the talk of ‘overpay’ seemed to disappear little by little. However, after the regular season began, the batting average dropped to 0.167 in mid-April, and the word ‘overpay’ began to rise again little by little.
However, this was only a temporary slump due to the effects of adaptation and injury. After brushing off his injuries, Yoshida began wielding a fire bat. In particular, starting with a confrontation with the Minnesota Twins on April 21 (hereafter Korean time), he showed a streak of hits in 16 consecutive games, significantly raising his batting average to 0.321, and continuing to play an active role to the extent that he can aim for the rookie title this year.
After raising his batting average to 0.321, Yoshida showed ‘up and down’, but he came back to life. In particular, Yoshida raised his batting average to 0.316 by making multi-hits in seven consecutive games, starting with the Toronto Blue Jays on the 1st and ending with the last game of the first half. It was the first Boston player to score seven consecutive multi-hits in 81 years, following Johnny Peskey in 1942.
Yoshida, who started the season amid numerous concerns, played in 78 games and finished the first half with 95 hits, 10 homers, 44 RBIs, 47 runs, a batting average of 0.316 and an OPS of 0.874. Of course, it wasn’t a full-time season, and there weren’t many samples, but as much as the ‘overpay’ controversy was put to rest with ‘skills’, the local media now seems to recognize Yoshida’s skills.
‘MLB.com’ had time to settle the first half on the 13th and evaluated Yoshida as the subject of Boston. The media said, “When Boston signed Yoshida to a five-year, $90 million contract last December, there were people outside of Boston’s team who questioned whether Yoshida’s skills would work in the major leagues. But those questions were not answered. ,” he emphasized that it was never an overpay.
‘MLB.com’ said, “Yoshida was one of the best hitters in Boston in the first half. He was one of the purest hitters in the game.” I have it, and I don’t have many strikeouts (0.382 on-base rate, 27 walks, 36 strikeouts)” and looked back on his performance in the first half.
Yoshida’s only flaw right now is his stamina. In the case of Japanese professional baseball, like the KBO league, most Mondays are rested. But MLB is a little different. In addition, in the case of the big leagues, the distance traveled is very long. It is said that in order to play a full-time season in the major leagues, it is necessary to adapt to the schedule.
‘MLB.com’ said, “One thing coach Alex Cora realized is that Yoshida needs to get enough rest while adapting to the major league’s tight game schedule.” It was evaluated as not obstructive.