Why aggressive Yamato deployment needed a larger strategy

Should Japan have deployed Yamato more aggressively early in the Pacific War?

Not by itself; Yamato mattered only within a larger attempt to seize Hawaii and force the United States to fight on Japanese terms.

Extra sorties by Yamato, including around Guadalcanal, would not have solved Japan's growing numerical inferiority. A coherent counterfactual role appears only inside a much larger opening operation that combined carrier attack, bombardment, and an attempted seizure of Hawaii. Holding Hawaii could force the United States to contest a place it could not easily bypass and allow Japan to influence where the decisive battle occurred. American resources would still probably overwhelm the position eventually, so the proposal offers a narrow chance rather than an easy victory.