Some call it a problem and some call it a luxury, but whatever you call it, the Boston Red Sox outfield is a logjam. With five mouths to feed who are all capable big league players with different strengths and weaknesses, Red Sox manager Alex Cora will have a difficult decision to make during every single game.
That logjam consists of Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu, Roman Anthony, and Masataka Yoshida.
Yoshida, by almost any defensive metric, is the worst fielder of the crew. What this means is that he’ll be the DH pretty much anytime he’s in the lineup this season.
This creates a dilemma.
Cora Makes Statement on Outfield Depth
Even with Yoshida at DH, there’s still four guys who should be everyday players. Cora spoke on how he envisions the outfield shaping up come regular season.
“I think it’s too early to talk about playing time, [but Yoshida] is one of the best hitters on the team,” Cora said. “We’ve got two Gold Glovers out of the five; when they play, they’re going to play the outfield. From there, we have to decide, but like I said, it’s too early. We’ve got a lot of work to do in the upcoming weeks, months.”
From that statement, we can deduce that the two Gold Glovers are Abreu and Rafaela; they’ll be in the outfield every game they play. And Yoshida will be at DH every game he plays.
This means the final decision comes down to Duran and Anthony, both left handed hitters like Yoshida.
The plan seems to look like this: when facing a right-handed pitcher, the outfield will be Duran, Anthony, and Abreu, with Yoshida at DH. When facing a left-handed pitcher, the outfield will be Rafaela, Abreu, and Duran or Anthony, with the other acting as the designated hitter.
Depth is never a problem, especially in a season as long as the MLB’s is. But if a player out of this group feels like he’s getting short-shifted, it could certainly cause some tension.
Cora Still a Big Believer in Yoshida’s Talents
Yoshida’s hitting stats might not jump off the page because he doesn’t have top level power, but he is one of the most consistent base-hit and situational machines the Sox have.
“He’s a quality hitter… man at third and less than two outs, he cashed in 13 times [last season]. We didn’t do that [well] as a team,” Cora said. “When he’s healthy, he’s one of the best hitters we have. He was healthy in August and September and he proved to everybody he’s the type of hitter we envisioned when we signed him.”
Yoshida’s most impactful hit of the 2025 season came in game one of the Wild Card Series against the New York Yankees. Trailing 1-0 with runners on second and third and one out in the seventh inning, Yoshida laced a single to score both runners. It ended up being the game winning hit.
However the Boston outfield shapes up on any given night, Cora believes he has the best unit in the league.
“I bet there’s 29 other managers who would like to have this outfield,” he said. “Whoever we have out there… I truly believe is the best outfield in the big leagues.”
Alex Cora Sends Clear Message on Masataka Yoshida’s Role With Red Sox