Masataka Yoshida adds defensive duties, playing left field for Red Sox

Boston Globe

20-07-2025

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Yoshida had no qualms about putting on his glove, even on a cooler, slightly blustery summer afternoon at notoriously unpredictable Wrigley Field, saying his everyday pregame routine still includes outfield reps during batting practice.
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'It's been a while, so I'm looking forward to it,' he said through a translator. 'One thing I have to be careful about is the wind, right, for sure, and all the conditions and all the vines [ivy on the outfield walls]. … My goal was to get back out there in the outfield when I got the surgery. It's been a long process but to be able to go back out there and play the outfield, it's really important for me. I was missing it a lot.'
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It's been a busy series for Yoshida, among the glut of outfielders that Cora juggles from day to day. He had two of the five hits the Sox managed against Imanaga, a player Yoshida has known since they were young.
'We're the same age and we were in the same conference for college, although we were in different leagues when we were in the NPB,' he said. 'It was kind of a unique feeling facing him.'
Cora remains convinced the juggling act can work, though it's also possible the Sox could trade an outfielder before the July 31 deadline. 'We've got a lot of outfielders but he can play left field. We know that,' Cora said. '[Yoshida] will play out there. We'll keep moving guys around. But most of the time he's going to DH.'
Top draft pick signed
A major league source confirmed the Red Sox agreed to terms with top draft pick
Kyson Witherspoon
, giving him a $5 million bonus. As the franchise's first, first-round pitching selection since
Tanner Houck
in 2017, there is a lot of hope for the 20-year-old righthander, considered by many as the top collegiate pitcher in the draft. As a junior, he went 10-4 with a 2.65 ERA, 32 percent strikeout rate, and 6 percent walk rate for Oklahoma.
Giolito a WNBA fan
Lucas Giolito
spent part of his All-Star break away from Fenway Park but at another of the city's famed arenas, sitting courtside with his girlfriend at TD Garden for Tuesday night's Sun-Fever game.
'She's been a massive
Caitlin Clark
fan
since she was in Iowa,' Gioloto said. 'She loves basketball. So when we saw it on the calendar, well, she told me that they were coming to play the Sun at the Garden and it was the All-Star break, I got the tickets early. It was really, really cool. The place was packed out. It was basically an Indiana Fever home game, which, I mean, just shows how much that [Clark] has done for women's basketball.'
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Although the couple had attended last year's Sun-Mercury game at the Garden, this was their first time courtside.
'I was struck with the intensity they play with, how athletic they are,' Giolito said. 'But honestly, I was taken aback by how poor the refereeing was. That's for sure. I know that that's a problem they're dealing with right now, but hopefully they can get that a little bit better, because the league, the league itself, the talent, is extraordinary.'
Alex Speier of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
Tara Sullivan is a Globe columnist. She can be reached at