TRENTON- Kyle Higashioka is back with the Thunder, but one should catch him at ARM & HAMMER Park sooner, rather than later. Higashioka returned to Trenton from Triple A Scranton Wilkes-Barre, where he tore the cover off the ball in his 13 games with the RailRiders. Higashioka hit .412, with 21 hits in 51 at-bats, and had 17 RBI. He...
TRENTON- Kyle Higashioka is back with the Thunder, but one should catch him at ARM & HAMMER Park sooner, rather than later.
Higashioka returned to Trenton from Triple A Scranton Wilkes-Barre, where he tore the cover off the ball in his 13 games with the RailRiders.
Higashioka hit .412, with 21 hits in 51 at-bats, and had 17 RBI. He was sent back to the Thunder when Gary Sanchez returned from the DL, but it may not be long before the catcher is back in Scranton., and ultimately, with the Yankees.
"I was playing with a lot of guys that have played in the big leagues," Higashioka said. "Being able to learn from them, and be along side them it kind of helped me maybe to elevate my game a little bit more. It was a great experience."
"I felt really good, and I am just trying to carry that over and continue doing what I was doing," Higashioka said. "I think they (the club) noticed how I was doing, and I have gotten some good positive feedback from them."
Higashioka, who has always been solid behind the plate, has made tremendous strides in the past year with his bat. It was that improvement that opened the eyes of many throughout the Yankees organization, plenty of whom believe that Higashioka will be a major leaguer one day.
"I would say from previous years (that was my biggest improvement)," Higashioka said of his offense. "There is a difference (between the pitchers at Double A and Triple A). It is more that the guys know how to pitch a little better. The starters don't necessarily have as good of stuff as they do down here, but they know how to pitch. The relievers are all pretty good. They have all been to the big leagues, so it is good to face that calibre of pitching."
MIGUEL ANDUJAR ARRIVES TO BOLSTER THUNDER
With some of the departures from the roster at the beginning of the year, the lineup that the Thunder put on the field Wednesday is pretty close to the strongest Bobby Mitchell could pencil in to his scorecard.
Now that Miguel Andujar is here in the three-hole, and Higashioka is back, in the cleanup spot, Trenton has the opportunity to post some crooked numbers on the scoreboard. The Thunder did that twice on Tuesday night, in the 7-4 series-opening win over Harrisburg.
Add in the strong pitching that is the cornerstone of the squad, and this team is in prime position, as the calendar moves into the summer, to compete for a playoff spot in the Eastern League.
"Since we lost Tyler Austin, and (Jake) Cave, and those guys, I would say this is the strongest lineup since they left," Mitchell said. "And Higgy (Kyle Higashioka), obviously when he left he was a big void. But now with him being back, it is going to help us, even though we all fell that he deserved to be up there and stay there."
"I think our lineup is stronger from top to bottom now," Mitchell said. "And it is going to be an adjustment period for Miggy (Andujar), but from what he showed last night, it might not be too long. But he is going to run into some better pitching, but he is such and easy going personality that likes to play, so I think that adjustment period becomes shorter."
KEEPING TABS ON 40 YANKEES MINOR LEAGUERS
As well as the Thunder have played so far, even at 38-26 heading into Wednesday, they are 7.5 games behind the white-hot Reading. The Fightin Phils are 46-19 after Tuesday night's game, and have won eight games in a row, and 12 of 13 in June. To go back further, Reading is 23-6 since May 15, and that includes a three-game losing streak to New Hampshire.
Obviously, there will be many roster changes for the Eastern League squads in the next two months, but it looks like the Thunder and Hartford, which will not have a stadium now in Hartford this season. As it stands, Trenton is a game ahead of the Yard Goats for the second spot in the Eastern Division playoffs. But with the players on their way to bolster the Thunder, it could be another shot at a crown in 2016, sonethng they have not sone since 2013.
Contact Sean Miller at seanmillertrentontimes@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @TheProdigalSean