Yes it is only Spring Training, but there are always exciting things to look forward to. For the Boston Red Sox, today marked a great day for some great debuts and they did not disappoint.

Today was the first day that the Red Sox would see newly signed pitcher Walker Buehler take the mound for his pitching debut. Also, being cleared for hitting activities, Masataka Yoshida made a triumphant return and brought the thunder at the plate. The Red Sox defeated the Mets 6-4, but today was all about these two, who shined the brightest.

Red Sox Debuts Shined Brightly

Welcome Back Macho Man

You can try and make your case as to why Yoshida does not fit on this roster, but I will be here to change your mind. Does this Red Sox team have an enormous amount of depth? Yes. But regardless of what he was brought in to do at the time of his signing, there is still a place for him on this team.

Yoshida is a good hitter. He may not be able to give you Barry Bonds esque power, but what he can do is make good contact and put the baseball in play. After all, during the 2024 season, Yoshida had the lowest strikeout rate, which is quite impressive given how the rest of the roster was performing.

After rehabbing through his injury, Yoshida made his waited debut and did not disappoint in game action today.

Welcome back, Masataka Yoshida!

Smokes a ground-rule double with the bases loaded in his first AB of the spring. Find a way to get him in this lineup. pic.twitter.com/EAlnXN8Ebk

— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) March 2, 2025

Yoshida wasted no time getting comfy at the plate and made hard contact with a ground rule double off the first pitch he saw on the day. Yoshida also drove in another run and went 2-3 on the day and with 3 RBI’s.

It remains to be seen what kind of role he has this season. But make no mistake, he has a role on this roster and clearly showed you today that his bat plays well and that he’s very useful.

Get Used to Buehlers Day

We have had the debuts of Alex Bregman, which did not disappoint. We had the debut of Garrett Crochet, which was highly anticipating. And now we got the debut of Walker Buehler. That number zero really looks good on the mound and so did Buehler today against the Mets.

A lead off double did not sound good to start the game, but Buehler dialed it back and was nails the rest of the way. Buehler punched out two batters in that first inning, including pumping 95 MPH to Jesse Winker. It was music to my ears watching Buehler pitch and it got even better in the second inning.

Two strikeout first inning for Buehler
Hit 95 MPH to strikeout Winker

pic.twitter.com/XbsDnkwKO8

— Tommy Bennett (@TJBennettt37) March 2, 2025

Buehler punched out four batters total, adding two more in the second and final inning of his day. One thing about Buehler was just how efficient he was when it came to his pitching. Buehler threw only 25 pitches and 19 went for strikes. He was pounding the zone and his location was precise.

This was a great day for these two players and only better days to come. Vibes are immaculate for this team this Spring Training.