TRENTON- Kyle Higashioka's 2016 season just keeps getting better, and the Thunder have been the beneficiaries. Now, he is finally getting some recognition for his exploits. Higashioka, fresh off the seven-day DL, was named the Eastern League Player of the Week Monday, for the week of June 20-26. He has been on a tear of late, especially last week, as...
TRENTON- Kyle Higashioka's 2016 season just keeps getting better, and the Thunder have been the beneficiaries.
Now, he is finally getting some recognition for his exploits.
Higashioka, fresh off the seven-day DL, was named the Eastern League Player of the Week Monday, for the week of June 20-26. He has been on a tear of late, especially last week, as he hit .467 with 12 RBI to lead Trenton to a 5-2 record on its road trip to Akron and Bowie. Included in that was a career day Sunday, in the Thunder's 12-2 win over the RubberDucks. Higashioka was 3-for-5, with two home runs, a double, three runs scored, and seven RBI.
Higashioka showed no signs of rustiness after his layoff, and in fact left off exactly where he was before the week-long break.
"No, I don't think it hurt him," Thunder manager Bobby Mitchell said. "Higgy has been Higgy all year. He has been improving all the time, which I love to see, because he is such a good kid, and he works really hard. That is all part of it, the preparation that he does, and the attitude he has."
"He is really easy-going," Mitchell said. "He doesn't really worry about stuff, he just goes out there and plays well. It is great to see guys like him be so successful. I wish he wasn't back, I wish he was up, but he is playing, and that is what he needs to do. He is getting better and better all the time."
"He needs to play," Mitchell said. "The competition here is good, and the more he plays, the better he gets. He is not a backup, and he has Gary (Sanchez) in front of him. He understands. His attitude has been unbelievable. He has been so good with our pitchers. Not only the offense, but he does a great job calling games."
He is just a pleasure to have around, he really is," Mitchell said.
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Higashioka is also the NJ.com/Daceys Pub Trenton Thunder Player of the Week. With his Thunder average up to .301, and overall average a whooping .332 with 11 home runs and 50 RBI, it should not be long before the catcher is moving up the ladder. He is one of a handful of Thunder players that should be in Akron for the 2016 Eastern League All-Star game July 12 in Akron, unless he gets the call to Scranton Wilkes-Barre in the next two weeks.
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The Thunder are on fire right now, and come into the home stand with the two Eastern League division basement dwellers Portland (East) and Richmond (West) at 47-29. Trenton is still six games behind Reading (53-23) for first place in the East Division, but the Thunder have opened up a 5.5 game lead over Hartford (40-33) for the second playoff spot, after the two series wins on the road.
"These guys never quit," Mitchell said. "We won a doubleheader, which is so hard to do. We stayed in the game, and did a very good job of battling. It is really encouraging, and fun to watch these guys play."
"Then (we) come out yesterday after the double-header and swing the bats really well," Mitchell said. "It is huge (to win both games of a double-header). When you win the first game, you know you have a chance. So I think the first game is really important."
"You never know what can happen in the second game," Mitchell said. "I think the pressure is more on the team that loses the first game than on the other team. They were both really good games, 4-3 and 4-3. It was a battle the whole time. It is stressful sometimes, with our pitching, defense, and hitting. So to come out the next day and have a relaxing 12-2 game was kind of nice."
Trenton has played in six twin-bills this season, and is 5-1 in the first game. Two times, the Thunder swept, while three times their opponent won the second game to split. Reading swept Trenton the other time.
As hot as the Thunder have been, they have a chance to close the gap with Reading, and pull further away from a Hartford team that has stadium issues hanging over the club. With that may come a first chance at an Eastern League title since 2013, which is also the first time the Thunder made the playoffs.
After the seven games at home, where it is 28-9, Trenton travel back to Bowie for four games, and then to Richmond for three, before the Thunder returns to Trenton for a massive four-game set with the Fightin Phils.
Contact Sean Miller at seanmillertrentontimes@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @TheProdigalSean