Kyle Higashioka

Kyle Higashioka

33-Year-Old CatcherC
New York Yankees
2023 Fantasy Outlook
Higashioka began the season as the Yankees primary backstop, but it wasn't long before Jose Trevino took over, sending Higashioka back to his familiar backup role. His defense remained solid, throwing out runners at a 41% clip while registering solid framing and defensive runs saved scores. At the dish, Higashioka dropped his strikeout rate to a career best 21%, though his walk rate dropped to 4.8%. More contact helped bump Higashioka's average to a palatable range in two-catcher deep leagues, but it's risky assuming he maintains a similar level. Higashioka has some pop, and his defensive prowess assures another season of around 200 at bats backing up Trevino. Even so, his tenuous batting average is only playable in deep, two-catcher formats. Read Past Outlooks
RANKSFrom Preseason
#577
ADP
$Signed a one-year, $1.46 million contract with the Yankees in January of 2023.
Three hits, two doubles in win
CNew York Yankees
May 28, 2023
Higashioka went 3-for-4 with two doubles, two RBI and a run scored in Sunday's 10-7 win over the Padres.
ANALYSIS
It's the first multi-hit game of the season for Higashioka, who'd been stuck in a 1-for-18 slump coming into Sunday's contest. The 33-year-old backstop is now slashing .203./259/.380 with three homers and 13 RBI in 85 plate appearances this season. Higashioka should continue to see the majority of starts behind the plate while Jose Trevino (hamstring) is sidelined, though Trevino could return as soon as Tuesday against Seattle.
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Batting Stats
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2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2023 MLB Game Log
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2022 MLB Game Log
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2021 MLB Game Log
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2020 MLB Game Log
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2019 MLB Game Log
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2018 MLB Game Log
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Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
15
5
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
6
1
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2021
 
 
+35%
OPS vs LHP
2023
 
 
+52%
OPS vs LHP
2022
 
 
+24%
OPS vs LHP
2021
 
 
+42%
OPS vs LHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2021vs Left .784 162 17 10 31 0 .250 .290 .493
Since 2021vs Right .580 394 38 13 44 0 .188 .242 .338
2023vs Left .842 22 1 1 2 0 .286 .318 .524
2023vs Right .554 75 7 2 13 0 .186 .240 .314
2022vs Left .758 71 8 4 13 0 .254 .296 .463
2022vs Right .609 177 19 6 18 0 .216 .251 .358
2021vs Left .791 69 8 5 16 0 .234 .275 .516
2021vs Right .558 142 12 5 13 0 .155 .232 .326
More Splits View More Split Stats
Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2021
 
 
+11%
OPS at Home
2023
 
 
+55%
OPS at Home
2022
 
 
+2%
OPS at Home
2021
 
 
+6%
OPS at Home
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2021Home .676 263 29 12 34 0 .204 .263 .413
Since 2021Away .609 293 26 11 41 0 .209 .250 .359
2023Home .767 45 6 3 7 0 .214 .267 .500
2023Away .495 52 2 0 8 0 .204 .250 .245
2022Home .660 114 15 6 13 0 .212 .257 .404
2022Away .647 134 12 4 18 0 .240 .271 .376
2021Home .652 104 8 3 14 0 .191 .269 .383
2021Away .618 107 12 7 15 0 .172 .224 .394
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Stat Review
How does Kyle Higashioka compare to other hitters?
This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • BB/K
    Walk to strikeout ratio
  • BB Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
  • K Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
  • ISO
    Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
  • AVG
    Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
  • OBP
    On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
  • SLG
    Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
  • OPS
    On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
  • wOBA
    Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Hard Hit Rate
    A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
  • Barrels/PA
    The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Expected BA
    Expected Batting Average.
  • Expected SLG
    Expected Slugging Percentage.
  • Sprint Speed
    The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
  • Ground Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
  • Line Drive %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
  • Fly Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.
BB/K
0.19
 
BB Rate
6.2%
 
K Rate
32.0%
 
BABIP
.281
 
ISO
.154
 
AVG
.209
 
OBP
.258
 
SLG
.363
 
OPS
.620
 
wOBA
.274
 
Exit Velocity
91.5 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
40.0%
 
Barrels/PA
10.3%
 
Expected BA
.248
 
Expected SLG
.488
 
Sprint Speed
23.5 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
43.3%
 
Line Drive %
20.0%
 
Fly Ball %
36.7%
 
Advanced Batting Stats
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Additional Stats
Games By Position
Defensive Stats
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Batted Ball Stats
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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2022
2021
2020
2019
2017
Higashioka entered camp expecting to work in a platoon with Ben Rortvedt behind the plate, but Rortvedt has yet to get into a contest due to an oblique injury. Higashioka has seized upon the opportunity with a power-packed spring performance that includes a team-best three homers. If Rortvedt is unable to get ramped up in time for Opening Day, Higashioka would likely open the campaign as the team's everyday catcher. However, a platoon remains the most likely scenario for the bulk of the season, especially considering Higashioka's tepid .181/.246/.389 slash line over 67 games for the Yankees last season.
After toiling in the Yankees' minor-league system for over a decade, Higashioka was named Gary Sanchez's backup coming out of spring training in 2020 and ultimately took over the starting role in the postseason. The switch was more a result of Sanchez's futility than Higashioka's performance, though the latter held his own with a .250/.250/.521 slash line and four homers in 48 regular-season PA. Three of the homers came in one magical mid-September game, which proved Higashioka does have some pop in his bat. That said, the backstop is apparently immune to taking free passes -- incredibly, he did not walk a single time in 104 PA over the last two seasons -- and has a career .246 batting average in the minors. He's clearly the superior defensive option over Sanchez, but the lack of offensive upside will likely keep Higashioka in a backup role.
HIgashioka slugged .581 with 20 homers at Triple-A in 2019, thereby besting his home-run total in the minors from 2016-2018 by one. He has shown little ability to hit major-league pitching in the cups of coffee the Yankees have given him the past three seasons; his job has been as the third catcher during September, or when Gary Sanchez and/or Austin Romine are hurt and the club needs another body. He doesn't have the tools necessary to be the primary catcher on a big-league roster and is now in a make-or-break situation since he is out of minor-league options and turning 30 years old. He will have to make the Yankees' roster out of camp or find another organization looking for a caddy catcher.
Higashioka spent most of the second half of the season on the Yankees' roster with Gary Sanchez missing time with a groin injury. He found himself the subject of a fun anecdote, becoming just the second Yankee in history after Alfonso Soriano to have each of his first three hits for the team go for home runs, but his performance was quite forgettable after that, as he finished with a .167/.241/.319 line (and no more homers) in 79 plate appearances. Throw in his 20 plate appearances in 2017 and his career line sits at .133/.212/.256. The 28-year-old projected as a mediocre backup as a prospect, with below-average defense and a decent bat. If the bat never comes around, he'll remain nothing more than a third catcher. He'll likely have to bide his time at Triple-A to begin 2019, and he's unlikely to excite should at-bats open up.
2016 served as a breakout campaign of sorts in the minor league ranks for the 26-year-old Higashioka. The catcher was limited to a total of 24 games between 2013 and 2014 after undergoing Tommy John surgery and he was slow to shake off the rust after that, but he found his stroke to the tune of 21 home runs, 81 RBI and a combined .276/.337/.511 slash line across both Double-A and Triple-A this year. Though he's always projected as a good power hitter, it's difficult to determine how much stock should be put into his 2016 season, as he floundered at the lower levels of the minors in the early parts of his career. Additionally, a sudden and sustained emergence like this is uncommon for someone who will turn 27 in the first month of the 2017 season. Higashioka was added to the 40-man roster for Rule 5 protection, and will compete with Austin Romine for the honor of backing up Gary Sanchez.
More Fantasy News
Filling in for injured Trevino
CNew York Yankees
May 24, 2023
Higashioka will start at catcher and bat ninth in Wednesday's game against the Orioles.
ANALYSIS
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Sitting Saturday
CNew York Yankees
May 20, 2023
Higashioka will sit Saturday versus the Reds.
ANALYSIS
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Goes deep Saturday
CNew York Yankees
May 14, 2023
Higashioka went 1-for-1 with a two-run home run and a walk against the Rays in a 9-8 victory Saturday.
ANALYSIS
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Cranks second homer
CNew York Yankees
April 15, 2023
Higashioka went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in Saturday's 6-1 win over the Twins.
ANALYSIS
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Swats first homer
CNew York Yankees
April 3, 2023
Higashioka went 1-for-4 with a solo home run Sunday in a 6-0 win against the Giants.
ANALYSIS
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