DETROIT — Masataka Yoshida has been one of the hottest hitters in baseball since the All-Star break, posting a .931 OPS over 36 games with 13 extra-base hits, 18 runs and 24 RBIs.
But he was out of the lineup against the Detroit Tigers on Friday night, grounding out as a pinch hitter for Romy Gonzalez in the 10th inning of a 7-5 victory. He will be back on the bench on Saturday.
Yoshida is healthy. But with Rafael Devers returning to the lineup as the designated hitter to give his sore shoulders a break, there’s no spot for Yoshida.
He is ostensibly an outfielder but has played only one inning in the field all season — that coming back on April 11 — and manager Alex Cora doesn’t plan to change that.
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“Nope,” Cora said when asked if considered using Yoshida in the outfield. “He’s not playing the outfield. He’s not going to play the outfield. He hasn’t played the outfield the whole season.”
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Cora said Yoshida would benefit from the time off and that he might not have been in the lineup against lefthander Tarik Skubal on Saturday regardless.
Yoshida has produced at the plate. But $18 million a year for a platoon DH who has nine home runs is not ideal.
The story on Trevor
Trevor Story is scheduled to start his rehabilitation assignment on Sunday with Triple A Worcester.
He will be the DH in that game against Toledo at Polar Park then accompany the team to Rochester to play shortstop on Monday. The Woo Sox are off Tuesday then Story will play again on Wednesday.
Story was thought to have suffered a season-ending injury to his left shoulder on April 5 in Anaheim. But he has made a quicker-than-expected return from surgery. “It’s great,” Cora said. “Forget the Red Sox. When that happened in LA, I think everybody thought that was it for the season. He did an amazing job during the rehab and put himself in the conversation.”
No determination has been made to how many games or at-bats Story will need.
“There’s a lot of things we have talked about,” Cora said. “The one thing for sure — whenever he’s ready he’s going to help us.”
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Once Story returns, it will be low in the lineup.
“Because of where we are in the season,” Cora said.
The Sox are also mindful of what happened last year when Story came off the injured list on Aug. 8 after recovering from Tommy John surgery on his right elbow and hit .203 over 43 games.
Hendriks throws again
Liam Hendriks pitched a scoreless inning for Triple A Worcester in a 2-1 loss against Toledo at Polar Park. He allowed a leadoff single then recorded three quick outs.
Hendricks has made five minor league appearances as he returns from Tommy John surgery. The 35-year-old righthander has allowed one unearned run on three hits over five innings, walked two and struck out three.
Hendriks is scheduled to pitch again on Sunday. The Sox would like to build him up to pitching three out of four days before activating him from the injured list.
Sunday plans
The Sox have not named a starter for Sunday. Cora suggested it would be an opener with the Tigers having so many lefthanded hitters in their lineup. That usually means Brendan Bernardino but it could be a spot to use Rich Hill. Cooper Criswell is a good candidate to be the “bulk pitcher” following a lefty . . . Rosters expand from 26 to 28 on Sunday with a maximum of 14 pitchers. Cora said “a lot of guys” are in the conversation. Lefthander Cam Booser, who has been on the injured list with a sore elbow since Aug. 14, is a candidate to return. The only healthy position players on the 40-man roster not in the majors are catcher Tyler Heineman, and infielders Bobby Dalbec, Vaughn Grissom, and Enmanuel Valdez. Dalbec or Grissom would fill the need for another righthanded hitter . . . Cora said the Sox would not activate David Hamilton until his broken left index finger is healed. There was talk he could come back sooner as a pinch runner . . . Skubal is the American League Cy Young Award favorite. The 27-year-old righthander is 15-4 with a 2.58 earned run average and 193 strikeouts. He is 8-1, 2.28 in 13 starts at Comerica Park this season. Skubal is 1-2 with a 6.00 ERA in three career starts against the Sox . . . The Sox didn’t arrive at the team hotel until close to 3 a.m. on Friday morning. Thursday was a getaway day but the organization scheduled a night game against the Blue Jays. The first bus didn’t arrive at Comerica Park until after 4 p.m. as rest was prioritized over the usual pre-game activities.
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Peter Abraham can be reached at peter.abraham@globe.com. Follow him @PeteAbe.
