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Kyle Higashioka

Kyle Harris Higashioka (born April 20, 1990) is an American professional baseball catcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees and San Diego Padres. He also played for the United States national baseball team at the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

Kyle Higashioka
Higashioka in 2021
Free agent
Catcher
Born: (1990-04-20) April 20, 1990 (age 34)
Huntington Beach, California, U.S.
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
MLB debut
April 10, 2017, for the New York Yankees
Career statistics
(through 2024 season)
Batting average.212
Home runs57
Runs batted in166
Teams
Medals
Men's baseball
Representing  United States
World Baseball Classic
Silver medal – second place 2023 Miami Team

Amateur career

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Higashioka attended Edison High School in Huntington Beach, California.[1] He played for the school's baseball team and committed to the University of California, Berkeley to play college baseball for the California Golden Bears.[2]

Professional career

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Minor leagues (2008–2017)

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The New York Yankees selected him in the seventh round of the 2008 MLB draft.[3][4] He signed with the Yankees, receiving a $500,000 signing bonus, rather than attending college.[2]

 
Higashioka catching for the Tampa Yankees in 2015

Higashioka played in 2012 for the Tampa Yankees of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League and Trenton Thunder, batting .170/.228/.327 in 147 at bats combined.[5] During the 2013 and 2014 seasons he played in only 13 games combined, due to Tommy John surgery and a broken thumb.[6][7] He played with the Tampa Yankees in 2015, and became a minor league free agent after the 2015 season. He re-signed with the Yankees during the offseason.[8]

Higashioka started the 2016 season with the Trenton Thunder of the Class AA Eastern League, and won the Player of the Week Award.[9] He was promoted to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders of the Class AAA International League during the season.[4][7] He finished the 2016 season with a .276 batting average, 21 home runs, and 81 runs batted in, and the Yankees added him to their 40 man roster.[10]

The Yankees optioned Higashioka to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre for the start of the 2017 season.[3]

New York Yankees (2017–2023)

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After playing in one game for the RailRiders in 2017, the Yankees promoted Higashioka to the major leagues, following an injury to Gary Sánchez.[11][12] Higashioka made his major league debut as a defensive replacement on April 10.[13] He batted 0-for-18 in nine games for the Yankees, and was optioned back to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on May 5, when Sánchez was activated from the Injured list. The Yankees promoted Higashioka back to the major leagues on June 16.[14] After returning to the minors he suffered a knee injury and played in eight minor league games during August and September.[15]

 
Higashioka (right) with Luis Cessa

Higashioka began the 2018 season with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.[16] With Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in 2018, he batted .202/.276/.346 in 188 at bats.[5] He was called up to the majors on June 27, following an injury to Sánchez.[17]

After starting his major league career 0-for-22, the longest hitless streak to start a Yankee career of any position player ever, he had his first major league hit, a home run, on July 1 against David Price of the Boston Red Sox.[18] His next two hits, on July 3 and 4 against the Atlanta Braves, were also home runs, making him the ninth MLB player since 1920 whose first three major league hits were home runs.[19][20] With the Yankees in 2018, he batted .167/.241/.319 in 72 at bats.[5] In 2019, Higashioka batted .214 with three home runs and 11 RBIs in 18 games with the Yankees.[5]

On September 16, 2020, Higashioka hit three home runs in a game against the Toronto Blue Jays. He became the 24th Yankee to have a three home run game[21] and the first to do so while batting ninth in the batting order.[22]

On May 19, 2021, Higashioka caught Corey Kluber's no-hitter against the Texas Rangers.[23] On June 12, 2022, Higashioka hit a home run on a 35.1 miles per hour (56.5 km/h) pitch off of first baseman Frank Schwindel who came in to pitch in the eighth inning. It was the slowest pitch hit for a home run since the debut of Statcast in 2015.[24] He batted .227 in 83 games in the 2022 season.[25]

Higashioka played for the United States national baseball team in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.[25] On June 28, 2023, Higashioka caught Domingo Germán's perfect game.[26] On September 10, 2023, Higashioka had his first career walkoff hit in the 13th inning.[citation needed]

San Diego Padres

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On December 6, 2023, the Yankees traded Higashioka, Michael King, Drew Thorpe, Randy Vásquez, and Jhony Brito, to the San Diego Padres for Juan Soto and Trent Grisham.[27][28] On April 3, 2024, Higashioka recorded his first hit with the Padres, a home run, in Petco Park against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Personal life

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Kyle Higashioka is married to Alyse Higashioka. His father, Ted, is a third-generation Japanese American. Kyle learned Japanese to connect with his heritage and better communicate with former teammate Masahiro Tanaka.[3][2] Higashioka's ancestry is one-half Japanese.[29] Higashioka also studied Spanish in high school and uses it to communicate with Latin American teammates.[3] Higashioka promised his mother, Diane, that he would earn a college degree; as of 2017, he was taking classes in mechanical engineering at Orange Coast College.[3]

References

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  1. ^ "Higashioka selected to All-Star Game". Orange County Register. July 7, 2016. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  2. ^ a b c Witz, Billy (March 6, 2017). "To Speak With Masahiro Tanaka, the Yankees' Ace, a Catcher Connects With His Own Roots". The New York Times. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d e Hennigan, Shane (April 5, 2017). "2017 RAILRIDERS SEASON PREVIEW: Long road pays off for Higashioka". The Times-Tribune. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  4. ^ a b Hennigan, Shane (June 12, 2016). "RailRiders: Kyle Higashioka and Tyler Austin are seizing their opportunities in Scranton". The Citizens' Voice. Archived from the original on August 5, 2016. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  5. ^ a b c d "Kyle Higashioka Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com.
  6. ^ Axisa, Mike (August 10, 2016). "Late-blooming Kyle Higashioka gives Yankees extra layer of catching depth". River Avenue Blues. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  7. ^ a b Kuty, Brenden (August 26, 2016). "How Yankees prospect Kyle Higashioka found his power, and if it's for real". NJ.com. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  8. ^ DiPietro, Lou (November 24, 2015). "Yankees re-sign C Kyle Higashioka, lose three to minor-league free agency". YES Network. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  9. ^ Franko, Kyle (June 27, 2016). "Thunder's Kyle Higashioka named Eastern League Player of the Week". The Trentonian. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  10. ^ "Kyle Higashioka Added To 40-Man Roster - BaseballAmerica.com". Baseball America. November 5, 2016. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  11. ^ Kuty, Brendan (April 11, 2017). "'Sweet': Yankees' 10-year minor leaguer explains 1st MLB taste". NJ.com. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
  12. ^ Hoch, Bryan (April 10, 2017). "After 9 years, Higashioka earns 1st callup: Improved power stroke has Girardi confident backstop will be offensive asset". MLB.com. Archived from the original on April 15, 2017. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  13. ^ "After 10 years of waiting, Kyle Higashioka's major-league dreams finally came true". Web.yesnetwork.com. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
  14. ^ "Yankees call up Mason Williams, Kyle Higashioka | What it means". NJ.com. June 16, 2017. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
  15. ^ Ferenchick, Matt (November 12, 2017). "2017 Yankees Season Review: Kyle Higashioka". Pinstripe Alley. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  16. ^ "The Triple-A Bench Depth [2018 Season Preview] - River Avenue Blues". Riveraveblues.com. March 26, 2018. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  17. ^ "Yankees Place Catcher Gary Sanchez On 10-Day Disabled List « CBS New York". Newyork.cbslocal.com. June 25, 2018. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  18. ^ "Yankees' Kyle Higashioka gets 'indescribable' moment (VIDEO)". NJ.com. July 2, 2018. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  19. ^ "Stanton, Hicks, Higashioka homer as Yankees beat Braves 8-5". ESPN. July 4, 2018. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  20. ^ "Stanton, Sabathia lead Yankees to 6-2 win over Braves". ESPN. July 5, 2018. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  21. ^ "Kyle Higashioka hits three of Yankees' seven HRs in second straight rout of Blue Jays". Newsday. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  22. ^ "Yankees Extend Winning Streak & Clinch Series Over Blue Jays". VAVEL.com. July 2, 2021. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  23. ^ "Kluber throws Yanks' 1st no-hitter this century". MLB.com. May 19, 2021. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  24. ^ Hoch, Bryan (June 12, 2022). "Higgy homers off Schwindel's historically slow pitch". MLB.com.
  25. ^ a b Goodman, Max (March 25, 2023). "Yankees' Kyle Higashioka returns from WBC with a bang in walk-off loss". NJ.com.
  26. ^ Chen, Sonja (June 29, 2023). "Germán delivers MLB's 1st perfect game since 2012". MLB.com. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  27. ^ "Yankees get Juan Soto in blockbuster trade with Padres". MLB.com. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
  28. ^ Gonzalez, Alden (December 6, 2023). "Yankees acquire Juan Soto in 7-player trade with Padres". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  29. ^ Miller, Randy (February 21, 2017). "10 things to know about Yanks prospect Kyle Higashioka". NJ.com.
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