May 26, 2025; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; General view of a Boston Red Sox hat during warmups prior the game against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

Red Sox Shaking Things Up With $90 Million Man

Originally posted on Boston Red Sox on SI
By Patrick McAvoy | Last updated Sep 6, 2025 6:40 PM ET

The Boston Red Sox are looking for some more offense and the club announced on Saturday that it is shaking things up a tad.

Boston lost against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday and has lost two straight games. With Roman Anthony likely out for the remainder of the regular season, Boston has been trying to figure out how to reconfigure the top of the lineup. The way the Boston opted to do so on Saturday was by putting Masataka Yoshida at the top of the lineup.

"On Friday, Alex Cora said he expected Jarren Duran to be the Red Sox’ leadoff hitter against right-handed starters with Roman Anthony out for the foreseeable future," MassLive.com's Chris Cotillo said. "A day later, Cora reversed course — and has an unusual choice in the No. 1 spot in his lineup...

The Red Sox made a change on Saturday

"For the first time in his major league career, designated hitter Masataka Yoshida will lead off for the Sox against the Diamondbacks and righty Brandon Pfaadt on Saturday night. Yoshida will hit two spots ahead of Duran, who is back in the third spot ahead of cleanup man Trevor Story. Yoshida is the fifth different Red Sox hitter to lead off this season, joining Duran (92 times), Anthony (27), Rob Refsnyder (11), Romy Gonzalez (6) and Nate Eaton (6)."

This is the first time in Yoshida's big league career that he has batted leadoff. It has been a roller coaster of a stint in Boston for Yoshida over the last three years. He signed a five-year, $90 million deal with the Red Sox ahead of the 2023 season. He played in 140 games as a rookie and hit .289 with 15 home runs while playing in the outfield mainly. Last year, he missed time and mainly was used as a designated hitter.

At the beginning of the season, there was speculation and noise out there wondering whether or not Boston was keeping him down in the minors just because there wasn't space at DH. But, after Rafael Devers was traded, he made the return trip to Boston and has played a role since. Now, he's making his first start as the team's leadoff hitter in his MLB career.

This article first appeared on Boston Red Sox on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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