The Rangers’ starting catcher on Friday, Kyle Higashioka, might as well have set up a welcome mat for his return to Petco Park.
Not everyone who the 35-year-old bonded with in a year in San Diego was able to greet him at the plate. So Higashioka ducked into the home clubhouse Saturday afternoon to make sure he said hello to two TJs — Lasita, the team’s travel secretary, and Laidlaw, the clubhouse equipment manager.
Of course, the pleasantries with familiar faces didn’t stop there.
They couldn’t, not with the level of impact that one year in San Diego had on Higashioka.
“We had a great team and a great run,” Higashioka said later in front of a locker in the visiting clubhouse at Petco Park. “Obviously, we didn’t win the World Series like we wanted to, but I think when you’re on a team like that, that’s that special, you end up sharing a lasting bond with the guys and the staff and the city, the fans.
“So definitely was an extremely memorable year for me.”
Right down to the bitter end.
Higashioka staring blankly at the opposing team’s celebration at Dodger Stadium is one of the lasting memories of a 93-win team that was upended in Game 4 and Game 5 in the NLDS. With a powerful bullpen, a red-hot Fernando Tatis Jr. and danger up and down the lineup from contributors like Higashioka, the Padres had become a chic pick to win the World Series, especially after leading the Dodgers in the NLDS after three games.
San Diego Padres Jackson Merrill, left, and Kyle Higashioka watch on-field celebrations as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Padres to win Game 5 of the NLDS at Dodger Stadium on Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (Photo by K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Two games later, Higashioka was packing up his locker and heading into free agency on the steam of a career-high 17 homers.
As he recalled Saturday afternoon, he put off thinking about what awaited him around the corner for as long as he could.
“I really didn’t think about anything,” Higashioka said. “I tried on purpose to not think about free agency at all until the offseason. Mainly because I don’t like that stuff. I’m glad I have an agent, because I would not like negotiating.”
His agent didn’t have to work long.
Higashioka parlayed a career year with the Padres into a two-year, $12.5 million deal with the Rangers in early December, about a month before the Padres made any sort of headway on their big-league roster. Because he said he leaves the back-and-forth up to his agent, Higashioka declined to get into the specifics of reunion talks with the Padres.
Besides, the Rangers presented quite the opportunity for Higashioka.
“Looking at the roster, a lot of big names, a lot of good players, a lot of good pitchers and then also probably the best current manager in the game in Bruce Bochy,” said Higashioka, who has one homer and a .573 OPS in 44 games while sharing catching duties with Jonah Heim. “He’s won pretty much everywhere he’s gone. That’s a big thing as a player, especially as you get older. You want to win, and these guys pursued me extremely aggressively.”
All-Star talk
The Padres will find out Sunday afternoon who might join starting third baseman Manny Machado for the All-Star Game on July 15. A scuffling offense makes it unlikely that any position players will join Machado on the trip to Atlanta, but the third-best bullpen in the National League (3.34 ERA) has worthy candidates beyond closer Robert Suarez.
At least according to Padres manager Mike Shildt.
Suarez leads the NL with 24 saves, five more than then next-best closer.
Beyond Suarez, Jason Adam’s 19 holds are tied for the second most in the NL, and his 43 appearances are tied for the most in the circuit. His 1.65 ERA to start Saturday was also the fourth lowest among NL relievers with at least 30 innings, Adrián Morejón (1.85) was seventh and Jeremiah Estrada (3.32) has had his moments this season.
“I think we have four All Stars in our bullpen,” Shildt said. “I did my voting, and the way they structure the voting is they make it very clear about who all who’s eligible and what their numbers are, etc. And so as I scroll through and started to do the compare and contrast that I’m sure you’ve done with all four of our guys — Suarez, Adam, Morejón and Estrada — and I looked at the rest of the league, I go, ‘There’s case for all of them.’
“My sincere hope is — and I’m pretty confident one of them will be an All-Star — we have another All-Star representative out of our bullpen.”
Notable
- RHP Yu Darvish (elbow) threw about 30 pitches in a bullpen session Saturday afternoon. Such sessions usually occur two days before starts for a healthy Darvish, which more than raised an eyebrow in a pregame scrum when Shildt said, “we’ll announce his plan (Sunday). But he’s getting close to coming to a stadium very near you.” Darvish has not pitched on a minor league rehab assignment during this ramp-up, but he skipped that step during last year’s final ramp-up in his return from the injured list. Darvish threw a four-inning simulated game in Lake Elsinore on Tuesday.
- Scratch two names off the candidate list for Sunday’s start: LHP Omar Cruz and RHP Braden Nett started Saturday for Triple-A El Paso and Double-A San Antonio, respectively. RHP Henry Baez is Sunday’s listed probable for San Antonio, and RHP Ryan Bergert will start a rehab assignment on Sunday with El Paso. That could mean LHP Kyle Hart returns for his third tour with the big-league team for a Sunday start.
Originally Published: July 5, 2025 at 6:24 PM PDT