This past off-season, the Red Sox signed Masataka Yoshida to the largest contract given to a Japanese position player. A five-year $90M contract. Many wondered if this the transition to MLB would be a positive one. At first, it did not look that way, recently however, Yoshida has made it look that way.
Through April 19, Yoshida slashed .167/.310/.250 with just one home run in 13 games. Since April 20, Yoshida has turned it around nicely. He's slashed an impressive .438/.479/.750 with five homers. His efforts secured him a AL player of the week during May 1-7.
For Boston, this is such a breath of fresh air. Heading into the season, the Red Sox we're projected to have a negative season, but now find themselves trending in a upward trend with a record of 21-16. Yoshida's efforts have helped Boston have a unpredicted run to the season.