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Red Sox's Masataka Yoshida nearing WBC hitting record with Team Japan originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Boston Red Sox outfielder/designated hitter Masataka Yoshida is raking for Team Japan at the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
With a two-run go-ahead home run in the bottom of the seventh inning of Sunday's 4-3 win against Australia, Yoshida crept closer to an all-time WBC record. His Japan teammates include Major League superstars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Yoshida moved into third place on the all-time WBC RBI leaders list with 19 runs driven in. The two players in front of him are Alfredo Despaigne (21) and Frederich Cepeda (23) of Cuba.
Amazingly, Despaigne is playing in his fifth consecutive WBC with Cuba after making his tournament debut in 2009. He is the all-time home run leader with seven.
Yoshida is looking for bounce back season
In February, Yoshida told The Athletic's Jen McCaffrey that his first handful of seasons with the Red Sox had not gone as he had hoped.
“Now that I have three years under my belt, to be honest with you guys, these three years weren’t what I expected, so I’ll leave it at that,” Yoshida told McCaffrey through an interpreter.
The left-handed hitter began last season on the injured list after undergoing surgery to repair a right shoulder labral tear, which limited him to 55 games.
Yoshida hit .266/.307/.388 with just four home runs and a .696 OPS in 205 trips to the plate, but found success in the postseason, connecting for four hits in seven plate appearances against the New York Yankees in the AL Wild Card Series.
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