Masataka Yoshida (Boston Red Sox) hit a multi-hit game. The competition for the batting title is fierce.
On the 19th (Korean time), Yoshida played as the designated hitter No. 4 in the 2023 major league match against the Oakland Athletics held at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California, USA, and recorded 2 hits in 4 at bats. The team lost 0-3, but showed good hitting.
Yoshida, who had a hit in the confrontation the previous day (18th)스포츠토토, came out as the lead batter in the second inning and scored a double by hitting Luis Medina’s 95.8 mile (approximately 154 km/h) sinker. He advanced to base, but the follow-up hit did not come out and he did not score.
Yoshida maintained a hot hitting feeling even in the top of the 4th inning when he was trailing 0-3. In a situation where there was no runner in the first company, he attacked Medina’s 94.7 mile (approximately 152 km/h) four-seam fastball and hit a double again. However, even this time, Rob Lefsnyder and Triston Casas were unable to score as they retreated with a bum hit.
Yoshida failed to add a hit in the next two at-bats as he retired with a ground ball to third base and a floating ball to center field, respectively.
Yoshida raised his batting average to 0.318 with multiple hits. He currently ranks third in the American League batting average. 1st place Bo Bissett (Toronto Blue Jays) and 2nd place Yandy Diaz (Tampa Bay Rays) both marked a batting average of 0.318. However, when looking at the batting average to the fourth decimal place, there is a difference of 0.3184 for Bisset, 0.3180 for Diaz, and 0.3179 for Yoshida. A fierce competition between the three players is unfolding.
Yoshida applied for a post ahead of this season. He entered the major leagues by signing a five-year, $90 million (approximately 113.7 billion won) contract with Boston.
Yoshida went through a period of adaptation until April. He had a batting average of 0.276. He has since improved his batting sense and currently marks his batting average of 0.318. In particular, he is swinging a fire bat with a batting average of 0.417, hitting 20 hits in 11 games in July.
Yoshida is the third Japanese hitter to reach the major leagues and is challenging for a batting average of .30. Ichiro Suzuki, who played for the Seattle Mariners, recorded a batting average of 300 for 10 consecutive years from his debut season. Hideki Matsui, who played for the New York Yankees, marked a batting average of 0.305 in the 2005 season. Attention is focusing on whether Yoshida will be able to make a name for himself with the two players.
