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Red Sox Get Great News on Masataka Yoshida's Future Plans in Boston

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Jon Conahan | Last updated Jul 3, 2025 8:10 PM ET

The Boston Red Sox have finally gotten Masataka Yoshida back on the field. He's currently in Triple-A, doing what's needed to try to come back up to the big leagues.

The hope is for him to eventually play the outfield, but with his nagging shoulder injury, it remains uncertain if that's a realistic plan.

Despite that, according to Chris Cotillo of Mass Live, the Red Sox are now being creative with the left-handed hitter. According to Cotillo, the Red Sox are planning to get Yoshida some work at first base.

“Checked in on this: I'm told Red Sox are planning to get Yoshida some 'light work' pregame at first base during his rehab assignment while they have the time but are prioritizing DH and outfield, as you'd expect. As of now, it's not likely he gets into games at 1B. But they'll see how it goes,” he wrote.

This could either be a telling sign that the Red Sox have no idea what they're doing at first base, or that they need him to play there because of everything that's gone on over the past few months.

It also signals that Yoshida's arm likely isn't in the best spot, which everybody has seemed to know at this point.

More importantly, if they can get Yoshida back on the field and in the lineup, that would help a ton.

He's a 112 OPS+ hitter throughout his career and has shown many promising signs offensively. The Red Sox lineup clearly isn't good enough to keep a hitter like him out of it, so when he returns, hopefully, it’ll change things.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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