Yoda was troubled with injuries during much of his time in college, caused by blood flow issues from throwing too much during high school.

[1] However, as a member of NTT East in the industrial leagues, Yoda's 150 km/h fastball caught the eye of national team selectors as well as professional scouts.

At the 1989 NPB Draft, Yoda was selected in the first round by the Chunichi Dragons after showing a preference for a non-Tokyo team.

[2] From that point on Yoda was made full-time closer by manager Senichi Hoshino and on June 1 passed double-digit saves.

On 15 August at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium, Yoda threw a 157 km/h fastball, which was at the time a Japanese record.

[4] While continuing as a reliever, Yoda had shoulder and elbow issues and was unable to leave behind any notable results after only 4 years of service.

Halfway through the 1996 season, Yoda was traded to the Chiba Lotte Marines for Naoyuki Naitō and in the same year enjoyed a study abroad with the Memphis Chicks of the Class AA Southern League.

The Hanshin Tigers would give Yoda another chance to revive his career in 2000 with then manager Katsuya Nomura mentioning in spring training that he was among the shortlist for closer.

[10] In the off-season of the same year, Yoda was listed alongside Kazuyoshi Tatsunami,[11] Takeshi Yamasaki, Hideki Hashigami, Kazuhiro Sasaki and Takashi Saito to take over as Rakuten manager.