Masataka Yoshida (Boston) could win the Rookie of the Year award, according to local reports.

NESN, a local media outlet in Boston, made some bold predictions for the second half of the season on Thursday (KST).

One of them is Yoshida winning the American League Rookie of the Year award.

Yoshida burst onto the professional scene in 2015 after being selected by the Orix Buffaloes in the first round of the Nippon Professional Baseball Draft. In his rookie season, Yoshida played in 63 games, batting .290 with 10 home runs and an .854 OPS. The following year, he hit .311 with 12 home runs and a .928 OPS in 64 games, solidifying his transition to the professional ranks.메이저놀이터

By his third year, he was playing full-time and had seven straight seasons of double-digit home runs, finishing his career with 884 hits, 133 home runs, 467 RBI, 418 runs scored, and a .327 OPS of 0.960 in 716 games. After expressing his desire to play in the major leagues through the “posting system” after the 2022 season, he signed a five-year, $90 million contract with the Boston Red Sox.

Yoshida played in seven games at the World Baseball Classic (WBC) earlier this season, hitting .409 with nine doubles, two home runs, 13 RBIs, five runs scored, and five runs batted in. But once the regular season began, the word “overpaid” began to creep into his vocabulary as his batting average dropped to .167 in mid-April.

But it was only a temporary slump. Yoshida shook off his injuries and started swinging the bat, most notably a 16-game hitting streak against the Minnesota Twins on April 21 that boosted his batting average to .321 and put him in contention for the Rookie of the Year title.

That’s how Yoshida finished the first half of the year, with 95 hits, 10 home runs, 44 RBIs, 47 runs scored and a .316 OPS of .874 in 78 games.

The media said, “The odds aren’t great. Texas third baseman Josh Chung has the best odds to win Rookie of the Year at +135,” but added, “Chung had a bad June. In July, he struck out 31 times in 113 at-bats. He hit .233 with a .301 on-base percentage and a .418 slugging percentage. “He’s a typical rookie who tends to fade in the second half.

“Yoshida, on the other hand, is 30 years old and has a lot of experience in Japan. He’s showing great skills at the plate. During a seven-game hitting streak, he batted .517 with two home runs, five RBIs and a 1.326 OPS.” “If the Red Sox make a run, Yoshida could be the driving force, elevating his status as a Rookie of the Year candidate.”