If I were to tell you that Kyle Higashioka would hit three home runs in the New York Yankees’ victory over Toronto on Wednesday night, you’d probably laugh. In what was another rout of the Blue Jays, the Yankees emerged victorious 13-2. That came one day after a 20-6 whopping. That is a total of 33 runs, an incredible offensive performance that was led by an elevated number of home runs. Higgy has been fantastic behind the plate, specifically when Gerrit Cole is on the mound.
On Wednesday, he caught a fantastic game, logging eight put-outs and helping Cole limit the Blue Jays to one earned run over seven innings.
Cole has been great on the mound with Kyle behind the plate, stating he might even be his personal pitcher after a strong offensive performance.
New York Yankees’ catcher stats:
Kyle Higashioka 2020 stats:
-.250 BA
-4 HRs
-7 RBIs
-.988 Fielding %
-1 passed ball
-50% caught stealing
-2 wild pitches over 10 games (6 wild pitches if given same sample size as Gary)
Gary Sanchez 2020 stats:
-.134 BA
-8 HRs
-19 RBIs
-.993 fielding %
-4 passed balls
-30% caught stealing
-16 wild pitches over 32 games
The pairing of Cole and Higashioka has worked so well that changing it would be malpractice. With that being the case, it is possible the Yankees utilize him during the postseason over Gary Sanchez. That would be a major move to make, and SNY is picking up strong indications that that will be the case.
Sometimes, there is no rhyme or reason for a specific pairing, other than that, they perform exceptionally well together. It is not a rarity that pitchers around the league have personal catchers, and Higgy could simply be the better option for Gerrit. Now, the Yankees have been extremely careful on the subject, as Gary Sanchez works heavily off of confidence. This season, he has been awful in the batter’s box but has picked it up more recently.
Higashioka, on the other hand, has been solid, hitting three home runs against the Blue Jays on Wednesday. That was simply an anomaly for Kyle, who gave a slight smirk each time he rounded the bases. He seemed to be possessed by the baseball gods, who have since favored the Yankees after going on a five-game losing streak and tapping .500 in the win-loss column.
However, it is important to note one phrase: “Don’t fix what isn’t broken.â€