Masataka Yoshida

, shortened by teammates to “Masa”, nicknamed Macho Man, is a Japanese professional baseball designated hitter and left fielder for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He started his professional career with the Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).

Early life Yoshida was born July 15, 1993, in Fukui, Japan. Masataka graduated from Tsuruga Kehi High School and played baseball. Yoshida played college baseball for Aoyama Gakuin University and was selected by the Orix Buffaloes in the first round of the 2015 NPB draft.

Professional career Orix Buffaloes Yoshida first played in NPB for Orix during the 2016 season, when he had a .290 batting average with 10 home runs and 34 runs batted in (RBI) in 63 games. Orix won the series in seven games (one game ended in a tie) over the Tokyo Yakult Swallows.

In seven seasons with Orix—2016 through 2022—Yoshida compiled a .327 batting average along with 467 RBI and 133 home runs in 762 games.

Boston Red Sox On December 7, 2022, Yoshida was posted by Orix and made available to all 30 Major League Baseball (MLB) teams, opening a 30-day period to negotiate a contract. On December 15, Yoshida signed a five-year contract with the Boston Red Sox, reportedly worth $90 million. On April 23, 2023, Yoshida hit two home runs in the same inning, including a grand slam, in a game against the Milwaukee Brewers. Yoshida was named AL Player of the Week for the week of May 1–7, having gone 12-for-25 with a 1.319 OPS and not a single swing and a miss in this period. For the season, Yoshida appeared in 140 games (84 starts in left field, 49 starts as designated hitter) while batting .289 with 15 home runs and 72 RBI. For the season, Yoshida played only one inning of one game in the outfield. After the season, in early October, Yoshida underwent right shoulder labral repair surgery.

Yoshida started the 2025 season on the injured list, as a result of the shoulder surgery he underwent during the offseason. He was transferred to the 60-day injured list on May 22, 2025. As of late June, Yoshida was still on the injured list, although practicing in the outfield and taking batting practice at Fenway Park. He was activated from the injured list on July 9.

International career

Yoshida represented the Japan national baseball team in the 2014 Haarlem Baseball Week, 2015 Summer Universiade, 2019 exhibition games against Mexico, and 2019 WBSC Premier12.

On February 27, 2019, he was selected to the 2019 exhibition games against Mexico.

On October 1, 2019, he was selected to the 2019 WBSC Premier12.

In 2023, Yoshida represented Japan in the World Baseball Classic. He set a tournament record for RBIs with 13. At the end of the tournament, he was named to the All-Classic Team.

Personal life Masataka has a wife named Yurika and two daughters who have been living with him in Boston since the 2024 Red Sox season.