The Boston Red Sox made a bizarre choice yesterday, putting Masataka Yoshida, the team’s primary DH, in the leadoff spot. Due to Roman Anthony, the normal leadoff being out, Yoshida ended up being the first hitter up yesterday and today.
Still, it was a head-scratching decision. However, Sox manager Alex Cora revealed in an interview with NESN his reasoning behind the moves.
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[Yoshida] had a good game the other day. Trying to keep Jarren [Duran], Trevor [Story], and Nate [Eaton] together. [They’re] run producers, good with men in scoring position, so giving it a shot, see what happens,” Cora said.
So, the main idea behind the move was to keep the heart of the Sox’ offense hitting together. Duran, Story, and Eaton usually hit third, fourth, and fifth. With Anthony’s injury, Duran got moved to first.
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Since Cora wanted to move him back, they needed someone else, who happened to be Yoshida. Yoshida also has a .992 OPS with no outs, meaning he’ll get himself in scoring position for those guys behind him, and batting leadoff is a great way to get to the plate with no outs constantly.
Hopefully this idea of Cora’s pans out more, as the Sox were able to win tonight, 7-4. With them moving on to face the Athletics, Yoshida might get a few more games under his belt starting off the night at the plate.
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