Hot bat of Kyle Higashioka forcing shift in Rangers’ catching dynamic

ARLINGTON — Has there been a change to the Rangers’ catching hierarchy?

Kyle Higashioka seems to be making a case for one.

The latest asset in his portfolio: a hot bat. Higashioka began Sunday’s game with a career-high seven-game hitting streak, during which he has gone 10 for 27 (.370). Four of the 10 hits have gone for extra bases.

Rangers

Manager Bruce Bochy likes to “ride the hot hand.” It’s resulted in more playing time behind the plate. Though he was the designated hitter on Sunday, he’s started five of the last nine games and split time equally with Jonah Heim over the last month. Including DH starts, he has started each of the Rangers’ last six games.

“Hitting is always just the constant process of figuring out what works this year versus what doesn’t work,” Higashioka said. “Unless you are a Hall of Famer, your swing is different every year. It’s been about finding out the strengths and weaknesses I have this year.”

Among those weaknesses was an intercostal muscle strain that cost him the first two weeks of May. The rib area had been bothering him longer than the time he spent on the injured list, Higashioka said. After he returned, it took time to rediscover what was working for him.

By June 29, his batting average had fallen to .212 and his OPS to .568. Since then, he’s made steady progress, pushing his batting average up to .254 and his OPS to .679. Both are the highest they’ve been since the end of April.

“It’s just been a constant fight to get back to the kind of principles that I think make you successful, which is that you’ve got to be able to hit the fastball without cheating. Then everything else falls into place,” Higashioka said.

“Every year you do something different that maybe throws you off. So you gotta get back to where you were. I’m not hitting as many home runs as I was last year, but I think I’m in a good spot.”

Higashioka’s impact on the game in other ways can’t be overlooked. The pitching staff had a 2.81 ERA with him behind the plate compared to 3.52 with Heim. Also of note, the Rangers entered Sunday 25-15 when Higashioka caught, 24-32 when Heim caught.

Twitter: @Evan_P_Grant

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