Inside The Red Sox

Red Sox's Masataka Yoshida Is Doing Something Never Done Before At World Baseball Classic

Yoshida is proving the haters wrong already

Patrick McAvoy

Red Sox's Masataka Yoshida Is Doing Something Never Done Before At World Baseball Classic
Red Sox's Masataka Yoshida Is Doing Something Never Done Before At World Baseball Classic /
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The Boston Red Sox certainly must be liking what they are seeing at the World Baseball Classic.

Plenty of Red Sox players have represented their countries at the tournament and have looked impressive. Although many Red Sox players have suited up at the World Baseball Classic, no player has been more impressive than new outfielder Masataka Yoshida. 

Yoshida has been electric for Team Japan throughout the WBC and is one of the biggest reasons why they will face off against Team USA in the championship clash Tuesday night.  

The 29-year-old has been a man on a mission for Team Japan and through six contests is slashing an impressive .474/.571/.842 to go along with two home runs and already has set a new WBC RBI record with 13 and still has one game to go. To make matters even more impressive, Yoshida's 13 RBIs this WBC are more than any other Team Japan player in their career.

Yoshida also has been clutch for Team Japan. No hit has been bigger than his late three-run game-tying home run Monday night against Team Mexico. Team Japan faced a 3-0 deficit in the seventh inning and Yoshida stepped up to the plate and clobbered a pitch team into the right field stands to knot the score at three and give the team a chance to ultimately pull off the comeback win.

Yoshida stepped up again in the ninth inning and earned a walk and then Team Japan walked off for the win shortly after. The Boston outfielder finished the night 3-for-4 with his home run, three RBIs, one run scored, and one walk in the major win. 

He'll look to continue his hot streak Tuesday night against Team USA with first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m. ET from LoanDepot Park in Miami, FL. 

More MLB: Who Will Make Red Sox's Opening Day Roster? Manager Alex Cora Reveals Surprise Option

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Patrick McAvoy
PATRICK MCAVOY

Patrick McAvoy's experiences include local and national sports coverage at the New England Sports Network with a focus on baseball and basketball. Outside of journalism, Patrick also is pursuing an MBA at Brandeis University. After quickly rising as one of the most productive writers on the site, he expanded his reach to write for Baseball Essential, a national baseball site in Sports Illustrated Media Group. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding Inside The Cardinals, please reach out to Scott Neville: nevilles@merrimack.edu

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