One week into the Chad Tracy era, it is clear that one Red Sox outfielder has fallen out of favor with the new coaching staff.
It has been eight days since the Boston Red Sox made the shocking decision to fire seven members of their major league coaching staff, including manager Alex Cora. As interim manager, Chad Tracy, gets more experience in his new role, one thing has become clear: Masataka Yoshida is the odd man out in the outfield logjam.
There is no better encapsulation of the roster turmoil the Red Sox find themselves in than the logjam in the outfield, with five players for three outfield positions and the designated hitter, a situation that has led other major league executives to question the team's construction.
Through the team's first 27 games, Cora mixed and matched his lineup based on both matchups and the hot hand, cycling all five outfielders between their respective positions and the designated hitter. Now, Chad Tracy has taken a different approach, almost exclusively using Yoshida as a bench bat.
Despite the lineup looking different in the first week, Tracy didn't see Yoshida's role changing all that much, telling MassLive.com's Chris Cotillo, "It’s not a whole lot different."
Despite Tracy's insistence that his role has not changed, Yoshida has just one start and five plate appearances in the seven games since the managerial change. Under Cora, Yoshida found himself in the starting lineup in 12 of the Red Sox's 27 games.
Overall, Yoshida has been productive when given his opportunities in 2026. Yoshida has appeared in 20 of the Red Sox' first 34 games, where he is hitting .280 with an OPS of .750 in 50 at-bats.
As for how he's handling the situation, Tracy echoed similar sentiments as his predecessor, telling Cotillo, "It’s not an easy situation."
In other Red Sox news
Reliever Justin Slaten made his first rehab appearance as he works his way back from an oblique strain that landed him on the injured list on April 8. In one inning of work with Double-A Portland, Slaten allowed a leadoff single before retiring the next three batters in order, two of them via the strikeout.
After leaving Sunday's start after four shutout innings with hamstring tightness, starter Ranger Suarez appears to have avoided a serious injury. Suarez met with reporters after the game, saying that his injury is nothing like the hamstring strain that kept him out of action for three weeks in 2023, and that he is hopeful to make his next start.
After Sunday's 3-1 loss to the Houston Astros, Boston now sits at 13-21 on the year and in last place in the American League East. They will hit the road for a three-game series against the Detroit Tigers, which gets underway on Monday night at Comerica Park.
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