Higashioka played in 2012 for the Tampa Yankees of the Class A-AdvancedFlorida 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]
The Yankees optioned Higashioka to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre for the start of the 2017 season.[3]
New York Yankees (2017–2023)
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 disabled 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 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 July 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]
Kyle Higashioka is married to Alyse Higashioka. His father, Ted, is a third-generationJapanese 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]
.jpg)
.jpg)
