Red Sox Outfielder Is MLB's Best Hitter Over Last Two Weeks, Numbers Show

Boston is falling in the standings, but one of its hitters is soaring

Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

As the Boston Red Sox struggle to keep their season alive, one member of their lineup has become an absolute nightmare for opposing pitchers over the last two weeks.

Looking at which Major League Baseball players have the most hits since August 5, the top five list reads like a who’s who of leading MVP candidates. Aaron Judge, Bobby Witt Jr., and Marcell Ozuna are all there. At the top of the list, however, is somebody no one would expect: a non-All-Star who hasn’t even spent two full seasons in the league yet.

That player is slashing a ridiculous .458/ .527/.792 with four homers, four doubles, and 22 hits (leads MLB) since August 5.

His name is Masataka Yoshida.

Yoshida continued his torrid stretch on Monday when he hit a go-ahead, pinch-hit home run in Houston. It was Yoshida’s first career pinch-hit blast in just fourteen opportunities.

Yoshida may not see more pinch-hit opportunities again soon, as he is a player that Alex Cora should be putting in the starting lineup every day from here on out.

Cora has used Yoshida primarily as a DH this season, stating when Yoshida returned from injury in April that the Red Sox “prefer not” to use him in the outfield, per Alex Speier of the Boston Globe.

With Yoshida hitting the way he is now, however, any defensive concerns that Cora have must be ignored. Yoshida needs to be in the lineup every day, or at least until he cools off considerably.

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