Wednesday, February 26

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Kyle Higashioka finished catching a bullpen on the backfields of the Rangers’ complex before taking time to chat with ace Jacob deGrom. He did the same a few days later with Jack Leiter, one of a handful of young Texas pitchers in camp this spring.

Higashioka, who the Rangers signed to a two-year deal this offseason, wasn’t the flashiest of additions. But it may be one of the most important, all things considered. He’s the perfect kind of veteran player for the club going into 2025.

“He’s a really smart player that handles his staff so well,” said manager Bruce Bochy. “He's a winner. He's prepared. He's got a lot of experience to draw on as far as game calling and the feedback that he can give to these young players. We, as a staff, hopefully do whatever we can do to make a player better, but a teammate can really provide that just as much because it's coming from a peer, and they're able to draw on their experience and talk about things that they know that can help them.”

The Rangers’ All-Star and Gold Glove Award-winning catcher Jonah Heim struggled in 2024, much like many players during a down year. Both catchers coach Bobby Wilson and offseason coordinator Donnie Ecker expect a bounceback year for Heim, but having a quality catcher to share time with him behind the plate was undoubtedly a priority this offseason.

And Higashioka is exactly the type of catcher that the Rangers love.

He’s a veteran that handles a pitching staff well and is elite at pitch framing. While his blocking and managing of the running game has been much less consistent over his career, that's not really the biggest emphasis of his value to a team.

“He’s made my life a lot easier, to be honest with you,” Wilson said. “Up to this point, he knows what he wants to do. He knows what's worked for him. He's been open to ideas and thoughts and just the mentoring of the younger guys has been a really, really big help. He's taken the time to spend time with Jack and [Kumar Rocker]. He's taken the extra time to really help those guys progress and grow.

“It doesn't show up in the box score, right? But you see it on a daily basis. You see the attention to detail and the enthusiasm that he has talking with those guys. That's what those guys need. They need a veteran guy to guide them, to help them, to lead them. That's probably been the biggest thing.”

Pitcher and catcher communication has always been at the forefront of Wilson’s teachings as the catchers coach since 2021. Bochy, a former Major League catcher, has only done more to emphasize that since becoming manager in 2023.

Higashioka has fit perfectly into the club’s catching core in a short amount of time.

“Peer-to-peer communication, peer-to-peer conversations, it grows players so much more than a coach saying, ‘Hey, do this, do that, do this, do that,’” Wilson said. “They're both in the fire together. That kind of communication, it's paramount to success for these guys and when you have people that are engaged. It's instrumental in the growth of our pitchers and our collective catching department.”

Leiter emphasized how good it is for a young pitcher like himself to have a catcher that expresses genuine interest in the day-to-day aspects of pitching, whether that’s game planning and pitch sequencing or just how to trust your stuff each and every time out.

Whether a rookie or veteran pitcher, it’s always important to have trust in your catcher. When you’re in the trenches with them each and every day, that’s all that matters.

“I think it's something that I try to make one of my strengths,” Higashioka said. “The experience part is really big, because just being able to learn from experiences I've had with other pitchers, and then using that with some of the younger guys coming up. If I can help them in some way, develop and reach their potential, then I think that's a win for me. We definitely have a ton of talented young pitchers here. I just want to use the experience to my advantage.”

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