Masataka Yoshida's strong start silencing critics

When the Red Sox signed Masataka Yoshida in the offseason, the move was met with backlash from rival executives. 

The 29-year-old Japanese outfielder inked a five-year, $90 million deal with Boston. One executive in baseball told ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel that the deal was an “overpay for me… too rich imo.” 

Others questioned why Chaim Bloom paid as much for him saying, "We thought he was worth less than half of what they paid."

The Red Sox had been scouting Yoshida for years, dating back to 2019 season. 

"We knew this would not be conventional and there would be backlash," Vice President of scouting and development Gus Quattlebaum said of signing Yoshida said in June. "He was always one of our top targets in our mind."

Boston was convinced that Yoshida’s bat was special and he’s proving them right. He’s hitting .301 with 83 hits, nine home runs, 17 doubles, two triples, 40 RBI, four stolen bases and has walked 27 times while striking out 35 times. 

Yoshida is slashing an impressive .372/.475/.847 over his first 72 games in the big leagues. 

The Blue Jays were reportedly one of the teams that pursued Yoshida strongly before he signed with the Sox. 

“I heard Toronto was interested in me,” Yoshida said after the Red Sox 5-0 win over the Blue Jays. “So I was considering to sign (with) Toronto but it (did) not happen so I was interested, a little bit.” 

On Friday night, Yoshida crushed a 444-foot, 108.8-mph blast to deep right-center field that extended the Red Sox lead over the Jays, 4-0. It was his second-longest homer in the big leagues. He had one that traveled 447 feet earlier this season.