Red Sox's Masataka Yoshida: Leadoff spot not likely

Manager Alex Cora indicated Sunday that Yoshida won't bat leadoff and is more likely to hit in the middle of the order, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

Yoshida signed a five-year, $90 million contract Boston in early December and was presumed to be a leadoff option against right-handed starting pitchers, but the club apparently has different plans. Red Sox manager Alex Cora has been adamant about separating left-handed hitters Yoshida and Rafael Devers, according to Ian Browne of MLB.com. Since Devers likes batting second, Cora appears to be happy to oblige the team's best hitter. Batting out of the middle of the lineup should still provide plenty of fantasy value for the 29-year-old Yoshida, who had a .335/.449/.559 slash line with 21 home runs in 121 games in Japan last year.