The Boston Red Sox have struggled to find their footing early in the season, entering Monday’s matchup against the Tampa Bay Rays with a disappointing 8-9 record. One of their most persistent offensive issues has been their inability to consistently put the ball in play. Boston currently ranks fourth in all of Major League Baseball in strikeouts per game, averaging 9.71. That figure highlights a troubling pattern: more than one-third of their outs are coming via strikeout. Their overall strikeout rate of 24.8 percent is the eighth-worst in MLB and fourth-highest in the American League.
Ironically, their most reliable contact hitter isn’t even with the team. Last year, outfielder Masataka Yoshida posted an impressive 12.4 percent strikeout rate—exactly half the rate of this year’s team. However, Yoshida remains sidelined, rehabbing his right shoulder after offseason surgery and currently participating in extended spring training. Only after that will he begin a minor league rehab stint.
But Yoshida’s actual status has become a bit of a mystery. Despite his injury, he appeared to swing the bat well in spring training, stepping up to the plate 35 times and notching 10 hits, including a home run and a double. Still, the Red Sox have been firm in saying he won’t rejoin the big-league roster until he’s fully capable of throwing without issue.
Yet, there may be more behind the delay than just health. Yoshida is still owed $55.8 million over the final three years of his five-year, $90 million contract, and it seems there may simply be no room for him in Boston’s current lineup. His primary role last year was as a designated hitter, logging 101 of his 108 games in that spot. However, Rafael Devers has now taken over DH duties. In the outfield, the starting trio of Jarren Duran in left, Ceddanne Rafaela in center, and 2024 Gold Glove winner Wilyer Abreu in right leaves no available starting role. Rob Refsnyder is already filling the bench outfielder spot.
To complicate matters, top prospect Roman Anthony continues to rake in Triple-A, currently holding an .885 OPS. As Baseball America’s top-ranked Red Sox prospect, the 20-year-old outfielder appears poised to make his MLB debut soon. If and when that call-up happens, Yoshida would become the team’s sixth outfielder — essentially an expendable piece on a crowded roster.
A potential solution? Use Yoshida in a trade to patch up another area of need — catching depth. Boston dealt away top catching prospect Kyle Teel in the trade that brought in ace Garrett Crochet from the White Sox, leaving a void in the system. A possible trade target could be Kansas City Royals catching prospect Blake Mitchell. Selected eighth overall in the 2023 draft out of Sinton High School in Texas, Mitchell is ranked as the Royals’ No. 2 prospect and sits at No. 45 on MLB Pipeline’s overall list. He’s currently recovering from a hand injury, but in 2023, he earned the George Brett Hitter of the Year Award after posting 18 home runs and an .815 OPS for the Columbia Fireflies in Single-A.
“Yoshida isn’t a flawless player, but he could help this Royals team contend,” wrote Tim Smart of BoSox Injection, pitching the trade concept. “Kansas City’s payroll is the highest it’s been since 2017, yet they remain $70 million below the luxury tax threshold. They might be one of the few teams both willing and able to absorb Yoshida’s entire contract.”
The Royals, anchored by 2024 All-Star and AL MVP runner-up Bobby Witt Jr., made the playoffs last year with 86 wins — their first postseason appearance since their 2015 World Series title. But so far in 2025, they’ve started 8-8 and are getting very little production from their outfield corps. M.J. Melendez has a meager .285 OPS, Kyle Isbel sits at .693, and veteran Hunter Renfroe is struggling at .363.
Kansas City also has another talented catching prospect in Carter Jensen, their No. 3-ranked player, making Mitchell a more expendable piece if they’re serious about adding an offensive boost. For both the Red Sox and Royals, a Yoshida-Mitchell trade could be a win-win move as each franchise looks to return to October baseball.
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