The Boston Red Sox kept a close eye on Masataka Yoshida this spring as he continued his recovery from offseason shoulder surgery.
But any progress Yoshida made to get back on the field on a permanent basis appears halted due to a new injury.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora revealed Thursday that Yoshida is dealing with a back ailment that required him to head back to Boston to get it evaluated.
“He has a sore back,” Cora told reporters prior to Boston’s season opener against the Texas Rangers, per MassLive’s Sean McAdam. “He’s actually flying to Boston. We were planning on keeping him in Fort Myers until he was able to go to the outfield. But he’s going to fly up there, he’s going continue his rehab for the (shoulder) in Boston and whenever he’s ready to play (he’ll join us).”
Cora didn’t provide details on when the back injury occurred for Yoshida or how it happened.
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Yoshida was never in Boston’s plans for Opening Day as the 31-year-old still wasn’t cleared to throw. The Red Sox officially placed Yoshida on the 10-day injured list Thursday due to right shoulder labral repair.
Yoshida, who appeared in 11 games this spring and batted .286 with one home run and seven RBIs, not being ready for the start of the season wasn’t a big deal for the Red Sox. They don’t have a spot for him in the lineup at the moment with Rafael Devers moving to designated hitter, where Yoshida saw the bulk of his time last season. Yoshida looks to be Boston’s fourth or fifth outfielder this season.
That’s certainly not the role the organization envisioned for Yoshida when he signed a five-year, $90 million contract during the 2022 offseason. But for now, the Red Sox will look to just get him healthy.
Featured image via Nathan Ray Seebeck/Imagn Images
