“This is my treasure.”
‘WBC RBI’ Masataka Yoshida (30, Boston Red Sox) overcomes the slump in early April and performs more than expected. He missed the Philadelphia Phillies on the 7th (hereinafter Korean time), but in 28 games this season, he went 108 at-bats with a batting average of 0.315, 6 homers, 24 RBIs, 22 runs, and an OPS of 0.937.
He quickly established himself as a hitter representing Boston by ranking second in batting average and RBI, first in OPS, and third in runs scored. It proves that the ability to lead Japan to the top by becoming the RBI leader in the WBC in March is not a coincidence. In the KBO League, Lee Jung-hoo (Kiwoom) became a hot topic by revealing that he referenced Yoshida’s batting mechanic a lot.
Bryce Harper (Philadelphia) is his idol for Yoshida. Harper’s start to the season was delayed as he underwent Tommy John surgery last November and was rehabilitated. On the 3rd, he played his first game of the season in an away game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, and on the 6th, he met the Philadelphia fans again after a long time in a three-game home game against Boston.스포츠토토
According to MLB.com, Yoshida and Harper met ahead of the game on the 6th. At this meeting, Harper presented Yoshida with a bat and green spikes, and Yoshida, who was thrilled, said, “This will surely become my treasure.”
“In his final year of college, Harper was a really attractive player to me,” Yoshida said. That’s why I became his fan. He’s a year older than me, but he’s already done really well in the big leagues.” “Harper excites the fans every time he comes to the plate. So I think he’s definitely a superstar.”
Harper had already known this since Yoshida was playing for the Nippon Professional Baseball Orix Buffaloes, and had sent a jersey to Yoshida. Yoshida also left a ‘proof shot’ wearing the jersey on his SNS. Harper is also grateful for Yoshida.
Harper also idolized Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams as children. “It’s really cool. When we are young, we try to respect or imitate someone. I know Yoshida has been playing baseball hard. It’s pretty cool to be able to have that kind of impact on other players.”
“It’s such an honor to be a respected person in any field,” said Harper. Yoshida has also come here and is succeeding. In particular, he knows how difficult it is to succeed in Boston. It’s really cool that he’s doing that at this point.”
After returning, Harper got off to a good start with 6 hits in 16 at-bats, a batting average of 0.375, 1 home run, 1 RBI, 4 runs, and an OPS of 1.069 in 4 games. Looking at Harper, Yoshida gains motivation to do better in the major leagues.