Kyle Higashioka is in the Yankees’ starting lineup for Tuesday evening’s game against the Orioles, and Gerrit Cole is not on the mound.
Higashioka, who slowly morphed into Cole’s personal catcher since the prolific ace began his Yankee tenure in 2020, has now become something more, as his strong start at the plate coupled with Gary Sanchez’s recent slide as led to Aaron Boone giving Higashioka more looks behind the plate.
“He’s just earned more playing time,” Boone said. “Simple as that. Obviously, Higgy has done a great job. His improvements over the past couple years on both sides of the ball have been strong, and I think the way he’s played on the onset of the season has earned him some more opportunities.”
Higashioka went 0-for-4 in his last start, striking out twice on Saturday, but he has been enjoying a strong season otherwise, posting a 1.210 OPS with three home runs over 25 plate appearances so far this season. He went deep twice against the Blue Jays on April 12.
Meanwhile, Sanchez has slowed to a crawl after opening the season with home runs in back-to-back games. Over his last nine games, Sanchez has just two hits, both singles, in 33 plate appearances, striking out 10 times in that span. He went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts last night.
“I’ve talked to Gary, yeah,” Boone said. “We’ll just go day by day. They’re obviously both going to play a lot, but it’ll be kind of a day-by-day thing and I’ll just communicate it as best I can.”
Sanchez lost playing time to Higashioka last year, seeing his at-bats diminish in the postseason, but the team remained committed to him and tendered him a once-year deal worth $6.35 million. He is arbitration eligible next year before becoming a free agent in 2023.
Sanchez’s recent slump is another frustrating realization for the Yankees, who saw the 28-year-old put together a historic rookie season in 2016 before being an All-Star in 2017 and 2019. Now, once again, his future with the team is in question, including in the short term.
“It went OK,” Boone said of his talk with Sanchez. “Obviously he wants in the lineup, but understands Higgy has earned some more things as well.”
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