Red Sox's Masataka Yoshida: To begin swinging bat

Yoshida (thumb) is set to begin swinging a bat in the upcoming days, Julian McWilliams of The Boston Globe reports.

This is the first real sign that Yoshida is working his way back to playing again. He was placed on the injured list May 1 and spent most of the month shut down from baseball activities. When he does begin swinging, Yoshida will wear a hand guard over the injured thumb.