PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — Masataka Yoshida will find himself in quite unusual circumstances to start the 2025 season.

Yoshida, who served as the Red Sox’ primary designated hitter and played just a single inning in the outfield last year, is healthy enough to hit — and hit well — less than six months removed from surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder. But Boston, wanting to employ Yoshida as an outfielder with Rafael Devers locked into the DH role on a daily basis, is choosing to wait until Yoshida is ready to throw in a game setting before letting him play in big league games. To that end, Yoshida will start the year on the injured list and looks poised for plenty of at-bats with Triple-A Worcester throughout April.

On Saturday, manager Alex Cora acknowledged that Yoshida will likely spend the first week of the regular season in Fort Myers, then join the WooSox in Jacksonville during the first road trip of the Triple-A season. Yoshida’s rehab assignment, as a position player, can only go 20 days despite the severity of his injury. And as MLB.com’s Ian Browne reported Saturday, the Red Sox cannot simply option him to Triple-A Worcester when he’s healthy, per the terms of his contract.

“There’s a good chance he’s gonna do that,” Cora said. “He’s up to 100 feet right now. We need him to play defense. Probably, he’s going to stay here for a week, go to the home opener and join Triple-A on April 1. They’ll be in Jacksonville.”

Yoshida has been playing catch with team personnel on the back fields at Fenway South but has not yet seen any outfield time in game action. He remains a ways away from doing so, and Cora gave no timetable for him to take the next step. Still, Yoshida continues to hit in games; he hit second Saturday against the Rays in his 11th game of spring action, entering the day having hit .281 with a homer, seven RBIs and a .688 OPS.

“Excellent,” Cora said about Yoshida’s at-bats. “You can tell he’s healthy. The finish is different than the last year and a half. It’s been going on for a while. He grinded through it. If you ask him, there’s a reason he wanted to have surgery, too. He signed as an outfielder. Obviously, circumstances have changed here. But I’d be very comfortable, when he’s healthy, playing him in the outfield.”

As the third year of his five-year, $90 million deal begins, Yoshida’s long-term future with the Red Sox is in limbo. With Devers entrenched as the DH after the signing of third baseman Alex Bregman, there won’t be much of an opportunity for Yoshida to claim that position. He showed his defensive limitations in 88 games as the left fielder in 2023 and might have a hard time finding playing time on the grass with Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu and Rob Refsnyder on the big league roster and top prospects Roman Anthony and Kristian Campbell both in the mix to be called up soon.

The Red Sox believe in Yoshida’s bat, still, as Cora called him “one of the best hitters (the team) has” earlier in the week. Against right-handed pitchers, the 31-year-old does have the ability to be a lineup difference-maker. Exactly how he’ll get those at-bats, once fully healthy, remains to be seen.

For now, though, it’s clear the Red Sox are slow-playing Yoshida in an effort to preserve depth and kick a decision down the road.

“It’s (about) his tolerance,” Cora said. “Not sure when that’ll be in games.”