Between his performance for Japan in the World Baseball Classic and early returns with the Boston Red Sox, Masataka Yoshida has earned himself quite a few fans in the United States over the past few months.
Yoshida himself was a giant fan of Bryce Harper before coming to Major League Baseball. So much so that he named his dog after Harper. So it was a special moment for the rookie outfielder when he got the chance to meet Harper before Saturday evening’s tilt between the Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies:
After spending parts of seven seasons playing for the Orix Buffaloes in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, Yoshida signed a five-year/$90 million deal to join the Red Sox this past offseason.
While some thought that the Red Sox overpaid to land Yoshida, the 29-year-old looks like a wise investment so far. Yoshida will enter play Saturday slashing .315/.400/.537 with six home runs, 24 RBIs and a .937 OPS.
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