Red Sox Teammate Sees ‘Video Game’ Season From Masataka Yoshida

Red Sox outfielder Masataka Yoshida continues to impress just about everyone, including those within Boston’s clubhouse.

In transitioning from professional baseball in Japan to Major League Baseball (with ease), Yoshida is building a strong case for this season’s American League Rookie of the Year. The 29-year-old had his latest stellar performance on Sunday, going 3-for-5 at the plate with a grand slam and six RBIs during Boston’s series finale win over the Cubs in Chicago.

“It’s kind of like a video game, you know,” Boston pitcher Kutter Crawford told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “He’s unbelievable. He’s a great hitter, a great teammate and he’s helping the team in a lot of ways.”

It’s hard not to co-sign Crawford’s wording in comparing Yoshida’s elite hitting to something straight out of a video game.

Yoshida is batting .465 with six extra-base hits and 11 RBIs over the course of his last 10 games, which also includes nine multi-hit performances — a staple for left-handed-hitter. In fact, Yoshida leads the American League with 36 multi-hit games, a near guarantee he’ll assemble a hitting streak every month.

While Yoshida continues to settle in and drop jaws on a daily basis, he’s just playing up to the expectations set by his own manager. Plain and simple.

“It was good,” Red Sox skipper Alex Cora said, per NESN. “We’ve been saying all along he’s a good hitter, 2-0 count, fastball in the middle, he put a good swinging on it. He’s good, man. There’s nothing else I can say.”