Quick Facts
Biography
Kyle Harris Higashioka (born April 20, 1990) is an American professional baseball catcher for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut on April 10, 2017.
Career
Higashioka attended Edison High School in Huntington Beach. He played for the school's baseball team and committed to the University of California to play college baseball for the California Golden Bears. The New York Yankees selected him in the seventh round of the 2008 MLB draft. He signed with the Yankees, receiving a $500,000 signing bonus, rather than attend college.
Higashioka played in only 13 games combined during the 2013 and 2014 seasons due to Tommy John surgery and a broken thumb. He played with the Tampa Yankees of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League in 2015, and became a minor league free agent after the 2015 season. He re-signed with the Yankees during the offseason.
Higashioka started the 2016 season with the Trenton Thunder of the Class AA Eastern League, and won the Player of the Week Award. He was promoted to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders of the Class AAA International League during the season. 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 at the conclusion of the 2016 season. The Yankees optioned Higashioka to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre for the start of the 2017 season.
After playing in one game for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in 2017, the Yankees promoted Higashioka to the major leagues, following an injury to Gary Sánchez. Higashioka made his major league debut as a defensive replacement on April 10. 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.
Personal life
Kyle Higashioka is married. His father, Ted, is a third-generation Japanese American. Kyle learned Japanese to connect with his heritage and better communicate with teammate Masahiro Tanaka. Higashioka also studied Spanish in high school and uses that language to communicate with Latin American teammates. Higashioka promised his mother, Diane, that he would earn a college degree and is taking classes in mechanical engineering at Orange Coast College.