Last year, the Boston Red Sox gave Masataka Yoshida a five-year contract worth $90 million to join their team after playing seven seasons for the Orix Buffaloes in Japan.
Yoshida was solid in his first season, hitting .289 with a .783 OPS, 15 home runs, 72 RBIs and eight stolen bases while splitting his time between left field (87 games) and designated hitter (49).
Now, in his second season, Yoshida has battled injuries, limiting his playing time to just 32 games in Boston's first 79. However, he's also been essentially kept from playing the outfield. In those 32 games, he's appeared in the outfield in just one, and fielding is something that the 30-year-old misses, but he's accustomed to playing designated hitter as well.
“Yeah, I miss playing outfield,” Yoshida said (via. MassLive). “It’s not like I’ve never hit as a DH. I did that in Japan, too. So I am trying to do everything I can do to stay ready during the game.”
Without consistent at-bats this season, Yoshida hasn't been as good as he was last year, hitting just .239 with a .635 OPS, two home runs and 12 RBIs.
“It is what it is, right? The injury happened and it sucks,” Yoshida said. “But all I’ve got to do right now is go up from here. I do everything I can do each and every day to get my swing back and just go up from here.”
It's hard to find a way to get Yoshida in the lineup right now, and even harder to get him in the field. The trio of Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu is above average in the field, and Rob Refsnyder and Tyler O'Neill have done enough to keep Yoshida on the bench most nights.
