The scouting report on new Red Sox outfielder Masataka Yoshida is pretty well known at this point.
The Japanese import specializes in compact as evidenced by staggeringly low strikeout totals in Japan. However, the 5-foot-8 outfielder didn’t display much power at any point in his career. That led many to believe he’d be most effective working the middle of the field and the gaps as more of a spray hitter.
However, it sounds like Yoshida is already surprising his new team with some of the pop he has displayed at the start of spring training.
“He’s got a lot more juice than I thought,” Red Sox hitting coach Pete Fatse told The Boston Globe. “Just doing a lot of the work on video, some of the reports came back seeing upwards of 70 raw power (on the 80 scouting scale) in batting practice. He’s got a lot of juice.”
Perhaps it shouldn’t be a huge surprise. Former big leaguer Colin Rea gave a glowing review of Yoshida after playing against him in Japan. Rea called Yoshida an “incredible hitter” and did note his ability to hit for both power and average.
This all comes with a fairly considerable caveat, though: Yoshida still hasn’t faced big league pitching in a game. There are legitimate questions as to how he’ll be able to handle the uptick in velocity and stuff. And we might have to wait until the regular season begins to get a true idea of how he’ll be able to adjust. Yoshida will soon leave Red Sox camp to join the Japanese team for the World Baseball Classic.
But if those early reports translate to in-game success when the games start to matter, Boston’s considerable investment in Yoshida will look quite prudent.
