Red Sox sign Masataka Yoshida
- Thread starter RedOctober3829
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Yeah, in previous WBCs I recall coming away with the impression that a lot of the Team Japan pitchers were junk ballers, but this time it seemed like even the guys who relied more on their offspeed stuff were sitting at least 93-94.
Thank you for posting. I went looking for this and I couldn't remember where I saw it.
Personally, I prefer fHAR for pitchers and bHAR for position players. I like fHAR for pitchers because it uses FIP (follicle-independent plumage) which I think is more predictive of the player's true hair talent level and is more sticky year to year. For hitters though, I find that fHAR puts a little too much on emphasis on UZR (unguent zone rating, a measurement of greasiness) that I think can be a little unreliable in small sample sizes. But YMMV.
Well I know he's still in the minors, but Marcelo Mayer has got to have 10.0 bHAR potential.
But how are these stats going to be affected by the renewed MLB crackdown on sticky stuff?
Yoshida WBC highlight reel for any one who missed or wants to relive--I think this has all of his hits. From watching the games, obviously, his plate discipline is elite, but what stood out to me is how he's ready and able to swing at anything at any time. Yoshida seems to have the ability to recognize pitches that are perhaps balls high or low but that he knows he can do some damage to.
Seeing a legit MLB lefty in Patrick Sandoval (3.09 FIP / 138 ERA+ last year) for the first time and being able to just spray line drive base hits was really impressive to watch. Sandoval was deadly to left handed hitters last year and held them to a .151/.217/.168 slash line. Plus, both his HRs came off lefties, even if they're not quite MLB quality arms. If Yoshida's lack of a platoon split is real and translates, that will be huge for both his career and a very lefty-heavy Sox lineup.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC204yCUDnY
Seeing a legit MLB lefty in Patrick Sandoval (3.09 FIP / 138 ERA+ last year) for the first time and being able to just spray line drive base hits was really impressive to watch. Sandoval was deadly to left handed hitters last year and held them to a .151/.217/.168 slash line. Plus, both his HRs came off lefties, even if they're not quite MLB quality arms. If Yoshida's lack of a platoon split is real and translates, that will be huge for both his career and a very lefty-heavy Sox lineup.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC204yCUDnY
View: https://youtu.be/dPGLvamtKZ0
View: https://twitter.com/alexspeier/status/1641564607415189505?s=20
I give it less than a month before we have fans at Fenway trying to chant this
I think the Fenway faithful could handle the “Masata!” and “Oyyyyy!” parts.
Asian baseball fan culture looks like so much fun.
I have a close Japanese friend who lives in Japan and he says he is following the Red Sox every game now because of Yoshida.
I laughed out loud. I am insanely excited for the Masataka era. Hopefully he is successful and it leads to more Japan talent joining the team.
Through 20 PA, Yoshida is hitting .294/.400/.471 with a .267 BABIP, 1 K against 2 BB, four singles and a HR.
View: https://twitter.com/masashicarlos/status/1643333357328105477?s=46&t=4A_L8qoKOnofphlcF4_qlQ
The first home run ballMasataka Yoshida hit last night was taken home by the family who caught it, they turned down several offers. After all, It never came back to him. @RedSox @BH_MASATAKA34
Maybe they got some hot offers on the ball from eBay Japan during the game.
Dave O'Brien has been calling him Masa during the broadcasts. I guess that's what he goes by. The fans have been chanting "Yo-shi" during his at-bats, which may not be what he prefers, but sounds way better as a chant.
Dave O'Brien has been calling him Masa during the broadcasts. I guess that's what he goes by. The fans have been chanting "Yo-shi" during his at-bats, which may not be what he prefers, but sounds way better as a chant.
The Sox should publicly announce that the family gave them the ball in exchange for whatever. In that case, if the family's motivation is to sell the ball, they'd be screwed.
The kid that got the ball looked like he was about 10 years old. Wtf is with the vitriol here?
TV crew was trying hard to not rip into the family. I don’t blame the kid.
That said, if I’m the parent, I’m intervening. You’re the adult because you understand perspective and a child doesn’t.
Agreed. Even if it was a 55 year old, who cares? Yeah, it's unfortunate that Masa doesn't get to keep his first MLB home run ball. It would be nice if they could offer the kid a fair trade, but if he doesn't want to give it up, that's his prerogative. Balls that leave the field of play are fair game for fans to keep. Been that way for decades upon decades.
And unless Masa ends up in the hall of fame or breaks some sort of HR record, there's no way that ball is going to be worth more than whatever the Red Sox were offering last night. There's no danger of the kid selling it off for more, unless he manages to hold on to it for, like, 25 years or something.
It's something, ain't it? On the flip side, what do you reckon the reaction would be if the MFY were in town and the same kid catches Anthony Volpe's first MLB homer?
I also had a brief exchange about this in last night‘s game thread pertaining to the parents.
I'm disappointed in the broadcast booth last night. Publicly shaming a ten-year-old on regional television is a pretty bad look.
I didn’t see the actual kid I was mostly reacting to people’s reactions online so I assumed it was some 20-something. If it was a young kid who just thinks the ball is cool then I have no beef with that. If the parents are coaching him to hold out for money or something I think that’s kind of crappy and teaches the wrong message. Odds are whatever the Red Sox offered would have been cooler than the ball but whatever. I’ll retract my initial complaint because I was unaware of the kids age.
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I don’t think public shaming was remotely the tone of the coverage last night. And wouldn’t be in the least bit surprised if they were enjoying their 15 minutes of fame. Parents should’ve had the kid accept what the team was offering for the ball, but whatevs. Life goes on. And I think some of the comments in the game thread last night, at least in my case, were somewhat tongue in cheek. Fairly good bet the little fella doesn’t read SoSh, so I think we can all rest easy.
I'm shocked that so many are perfectly fine with this family, and yes it's a family decision, not doing the traditional, and honorable, thing, and giving Masa his first HR ball in exchange for something of equal or greater value. I mean, sure he has a right to keep it. But it's a dick move. Always has been. Always will be.
Ugh, it's just a ball. Why does anyone care? I have a ball signed by Bob Feller. It just sits there in a plastic box. Yoshida got the first hit ball back I think? That'll do I suspect. He has other goals.
Exactly - it's just a baseball. I also have a baseball signed by Bob Feller (apparently he signed so many balls there was a running joke that the only think worth less than an unsigned ball was one signed by Bob Feller). When my daughter was about 4, she pulled the ball down off of my dresser and practiced spelling her own name. The ball is now invaluable to me.