Masataka Yoshida meets his ‘favorite player’ Bryce Harper
Every baseball fan has a player they idolized, whether they’re on your favorite team or in another city, you have a favorite player.
For Red Sox outfielder Masataka Yoshida, his favorite player is Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper.
On Saturday afternoon before the Phillies and Red Sox game at Citizen’s Park, Yoshida finally met Harper.
The two met, shook hands and took pictures for the media. Harper gave Yoshida a pair of cleats, two autographed bats, one of the bats was used during the 2022 NLCS.
Prior to the meeting Yoshida admitted that he was nervous, according to WEEI’s Rob Bradford.
The cleats and bats from Harper will be added to the other items Yoshida has bearing the name “Harper.” The Japanese superstar has a custom-made Phillies jersey with Harper’s name on it for his dog, who he named, Harper.
“I’m really honored to play against him,” Yoshida said through interpreter Keiichiro Wakabayashi to The Athletic. “Also I’ve heard that surgery usually takes a year to come back to play, but he’s come back to play much quicker than usual. I’ve experienced some injuries, so I know it’s a lot of work to come back, so that part I really respect.”
The Phillies star was just activated off the injured list and made his home debut on Friday night. Harper returned from having Tommy John surgery just five months ago. He went 1-for-4 at the plate. That included a strikeout in his first at-bat against Red Sox lefty Chris Sale who was dialing up his fastball to 99 mph.
Yoshida will begin the second game of the three game series with the night off. The Red Sox left field currently owns the longest hitting streak in the majors with a hit in 15 straight games.
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