The Boston Red Sox will have to try to salvage their series against the Tampa Bay Rays without the services of outfielder Masataka Yoshida.
Yoshida was slated to play in left field and bat cleanup for the Red Sox in Wednesday night’s matchup against the Rays at Tropicana Field, but was scratched from the starting lineup due to right hamstring tightness, per multiple reports.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora doesn’t seemed too concerned about Yoshida’s ailment, but expects that he will also miss Thursday’s series finale against the Rays as well.
“He showed up here, tried to run,” Cora told reporters prior to the game, per MassLive’s Chris Cotillo. “Obviously, if it’s later in the season, we’d push him to do it and he’d be OK to do it, but it doesn’t make sense to play him tonight.”
Raimel Tapia will get the start in place of Yoshida in left, while Kiké Hernández, who hasn’t recorded a hit in his last 27 at-bats, will man center field. Cora is turning to Bobby Dalbec to take over at shortstop in the third game of the series.
Whether it’s a byproduct of the hamstring tightness, Yoshida, who has started in 10 of Boston’s first 11 games, has recently cooled off at the plate. After registering five hits in his first four games in the big leagues, Yoshida has just three hits in his last 20 at-bats. On the season, he’s batting .216 with one home run and eight RBIs.
Yoshida should return to the lineup when the Red Sox welcome Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Angels to Fenway Park for a four-game series starting Friday.
