I was the WBC RBI leader…
Yoshida Masataka (30, Boston Red Sox) played a big role in the WBC in March and led Japan to the championship. He went 9-for-22 with a batting average of 0.409, 2 home runs, 13 RBIs and 5 runs in 7 games, and an OPS of 1.258. He surpassed Trey Turner (USA) with 11 RBIs to become the RBI king. He also tied for sixth in the most hits behind the 10-hit group.
Such Yoshida jumped into the major leagues by signing a 5-year, $90 million (approximately 118.1 billion won) contract with the Boston Red Sox in the 2022-2023 free agent market. He had already signed a contract, he competed in the WBC, and his skills had been tested in Japan for years. It was true that expectations for his upcoming season increased due to his outstanding performance in the WBC.
However, it seems that the WBC performance has not been very helpful so far in adapting to the major leagues. Yoshida went as the designated hitter No. 6 in the 2023 Major League Baseball home game against the Los Angeles Angels held at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts on the 17th (hereinafter Korean time), but struck out once with no hits in two at-bats. 카지노사이트
In fact, for Yoshida, this game was his first appearance five days after the home game against the Tampa Bay Rays on the 12th. He had to rest because of a little bad hamstring, and as expected, the feeling of hitting was not good. Even right before his injury, he wasn’t hitting well, but he needs time to get back on track after taking five days off. No matter how much he flew in the WBC, he needs time to adapt to the major leagues.
In the first 11 games of the season, 8 hits in 39 at-bats, a batting average of 0.205, 1 home run, 6 RBIs, 8 runs, an OPS of 0.662. According to The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey’s tweet, Yoshida plays defense normally from the last game of the 4-game series against the Angels on the 18th. However, Yoshida’s sluggishness is not very noticeable as Boston remains in ninth place in the American League with a team batting average of 0.238.
Right now, Yoshida will meet ‘pitcher’ Shohei Ohtani (LA Angels) in the last game of the 4-game series against the Angels, which will be held at 0:10 on the 18th. ‘Pitcher’ Ohtani is doing great this season with 2 wins and an average ERA of 0.47 in 3 games. It ranks first overall in major league ERA.