Red Sox star Masataka Yoshida upset with Alex Cora over lack of playing time

The Boston Red Sox have shied away from spending big money in free agency in recent years, but they did splurge on one player in the 2022 offseason, inking Japanese star Masataka Yoshida to a five-year, $90 million deal.

Yoshida was signed to be a big bat for Boston and for the first half of the 2023 campaign he was, posting a .874 OPS as their regular left fielder. While Yoshida flourished at the plate in the first half, he had just a .663 OPS in the second half and struggled mightily defensively all season long.

Justin Turner's departure gave Yoshida a lane to be the designated hitter every day for Boston, but he has just a .660 OPS to begin this season. His struggles have led to a loss in playing time of late, and it became abundantly clear after Thursday's game that Yoshida is frustrated with that diminished role, as MassLive's Chris Cotillo points out.

Masataka Yoshida expresses frustration over lack of playing time

Yoshida started 18 of Boston's first 22 games this season but has not started in any of Boston's last four games. He is also not in the lineup for Friday's series opener against the Cubs. It's very clear he has fallen out of favor with Alex Cora, at least somewhat.

The biggest reason why Yoshida has not started recently actually has nothing to do with Yoshida himself. It has to do with the Red Sox getting players back from injury. Tyler O'Neill was the DH on Tuesday as he returned from the IL, and Rafael Devers has DH'd in each of their last two games as he works his way back from an injury of his own, which Cora told reporters. Devers is slotted in as the DH on Friday as well.

This comes down to Yoshida's inability to play the field. He'd almost certainly be starting over a guy like Rob Refsnyder against right-handed pitching if the Red Sox thought he could handle the outfield, but it's clear that they think that he can't. He has just one appearance in left field this season, and that came in a game when Boston ran out of position players. Since the Red Sox feel that they have to DH Devers who is not 100 percent, Yoshida can't start.

The question will soon be, once Devers is able to play the field, will Yoshida start games again? If not, he might express even more frustration with how things are going in Boston.