Yankees catcher Kyle Higashioka gets start behind the plate for the first time in a week
The Yankees' Kyle Higashioka gestures on second base after his double against the Nationals during the second inning of an MLB game at Yankee Stadium on Aug. 24. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Kyle Higashioka, in the same boat as veterans like Jake Bauers and Isiah Kiner-Falefa, suddenly saw his playing time cut when the Yankees went all-in on their youth movement toward the end of August.
But Higashioka, tethered to the bench since catching prospect Austin Wells was called up Sept. 1 as part of that youth movement, found himself behind the plate for the first time since Aug. 31 – at the Tigers – Thursday night against Detroit at the Stadium.
Before Thursday’s game, Aaron Boone said the reason was two-fold: he wanted Higashioka’s righty bat in the lineup against Tigers lefthander Eduardo Rodriguez, but also because the lefty-swinging Wells took a baseball off his forearm blocking a ball in the dirt during Wednesday night’s 4-3 victory.
Boone, however, said Wells, 24, would be available if need be Thursday, with the expectation he would be back in the lineup Friday night for the first of three games against the Brewers.
“He should be available [off the bench],” Boone said.
Wells came into Thursday 2-for-14 with a double, a walk and two RBIs in four games.
Honoring Miggy
Miguel Cabrera, in the final season of what has been a Hall-of-Fame career, was in the lineup batting fifth as the Detroit DH Thursday, the 40-year-old’s final game at Yankee Stadium.
“I was fortunate to play with a lot of great players and great hitters. To me, [he's] the smartest hitter I ever played with,” said Boone, a teammate of Cabrera’s with the Marlins in 2007. “Obviously, great. But just on another level I feel like, as far as knowing what pitchers are going to do to him beforehand. Just such a great, great player, I hope people realize how smart of a player he is.”
The Yankees honored Cabrera before Tuesday’s game during an on-field ceremony, which was attended by, among other players, Oswaldo Cabrera, Oswald Peraza and Everson Pereira. That trio, like Cabrera, are natives of Venezuela. The three had a memorable experience last week in Detroit when bench coach Carlos Mendoza, also a native of Venezuela, set up an on-field meeting.
“That’s a hero in their eyes,” Boone said. “For Miggy to take the time to talk baseball with them, [give] advice, those kind of things, I know it was really important to those guys.”
Progress
Since the All-Star break, when Sean Casey replaced Dillon Lawson as hitting coach, the Yankees lead the Majors with a 9.56 plate appearance-to-walk ratio, seeing 4.02 pitches per plate appearances, also tops in the big leagues. Before the All-Star break, the Yankees ranked 20th in both categories – 3.86 pitches per plate appearance and 11.90 plate appearances-to-walks.
Extra bases
Entering Thursday, 10 of the Yankees' last 20 runs, and 12 of their last 26, had been driven in by players age 24-or-younger…Gleyber Torres, a free agent after next season, came into Thursday slashing .316/.372/.546 with 11 homers, 25 RBIs and 17 walks since July 6, a span of 50 games. Torres, who has walked 53 times this season, walked 39 times all of last season (140 games).
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
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