On Christmas Day, New York Yankees catcher Kyle Higashioka and his wife Alyse poised for a photo with their dog, to wish everyone a Merry Christmas via his Twitter account. “Higgy” has to feel better about his baseball career going forward than he ever has before. With his starting catcher future on the line, the Yankees decided to give their slumping catcher, Gary Sanchez another go by giving him a $5 million contract to catch in 2021.
However, the bottom line is that during the shortened 2020 season veteran backup catcher Kyle Higashioka took on a greater role by becoming pitching ace Gerrit Cole’s personal catcher. In addition, he caught more and more games as the season ended. In the postseason he caught in all be two games as the Yankees had more faith in him than in Sanchez. He ended the season catching better and hitting better than Sanchez. For the season in 16 games, he hit .250 with 4 home runs and had the best slugging percentage and OPS of his career.
Gary Sanchez played winter ball in the Dominican Republic in a season that has just ended. He although not catching much did hit better but in the last weeks of the season, he went into one of his slumps got 2 for 20. There is no reason to believe that his catching skills will have improved or that he will stop striking out. Right now his value to the team is hitting home runs. Nevertheless, you will see Higashioka take on a more important role with the Yankees especially if Sanchez doesn’t perform as the hope he will. The Yankees this season will not wait to employ the services of Kyle.
Also with the retirement of Erik Kratz, you will see Kyle on the bench or catching in every game that this season will hold. Players want a 162 game season but the owners want a season that has at least 30 fewer games. Whatever the case Higashioka provides a veteran presence for all the younger inexperienced arms the New York Yankees will likely depend upon. Higgy has been a life long New York Yankee after being drafted in 2008. With Brett Gardner possibly gone, Higgy becomes the longest-tenured Yankee.
In his time with the Yankees, he has been known as an excellent defender and game caller, but his hitting left something to be desired. What is often overlooked is that when he does hit it’s often for power. Since his Major League debut in 2017, he has hit 10 home runs in only 72 games. There is also no reason to believe that his hitting will get better with more constant plate appearances. Since the majors, he was improved his batting average every year from .167 to .214 to .250.
There is little question that Higashioka will play a more important part in 2021. But at the same time, the 30-year-old Huntington Beach native has been preparing for life after baseball by earning an engineering degree. Higgy is a bargain for the Yankees, earning only the league minimum. This will be an important season for him because he will be arbitration-eligible after the season. He will become a free agent after the 2024 season. Higgy is a fan favorite and is highly respected in the dugout. We wish him only the best in the upcoming 2021 season.