TAMPA — Having spent all 15 years of his professional career in the Yankees organization, Kyle Higashioka finally got around some new faces with Team USA in the WBC.
And even though Higashioka didn’t appear in the tournament before returning to Yankees camp on Thursday, he’s confident he got something out of the experience.
“I learned so much there from all the players and coaches that I definitely think I’m coming back better, even though I lost two weeks of playing time,’’ Higashioka said after catching in a minor league game at the Yankees’ player development complex.
“What I gained in experience and from all the guys probably overrides the lack of playing time.”
He pointed to picking up lessons from perennial All-Stars like Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado of the Cardinals and Mookie Betts of the Dodgers — as well as one Hall of Famer: Team USA hitting coach Ken Griffey Jr.
“You can’t really quantify that,’’ Higashioka said. “He’s another guy I would never have had a chance to be around.”
Higashioka said Griffey passed along tips that he had gotten from his father that he applied to his career, like not rolling over your wrists too soon.
The messages, while helpful, won’t turn Higashioka into an All-Star, but he’s confident he’ll put them to good use.
And his spring training performance — no matter how successful — hasn’t been indicative of a solid regular season.
Higashioka set the Grapefruit League on fire last spring with seven homers and an OPS of 1.695 and went on to have a mediocre year at the plate.
Now he’s back with the Yankees, where Higashioka said he is still struck by the stars surrounding him.
“Every time as a young kid when I’d be in big-league camp it was similar because there were all these superstars around,’’ Higashioka said. “It’s still like that for me, being around [Aaron] Judge, [Giancarlo] Stanton and Gerrit [Cole].
“But it’s good to get a new perspective and something different.”
He was behind the plate Thursday and took extra at-bats to make up for the time off.
“It definitely felt good to be back out there,’’ Higashioka said. “I’m just glad to be back with the team and get back to business.”
Aaron Boone, with the Yankees in Jupiter, Fla., where they faced the Cardinals on Thursday, said “it’ll be a little challenging’’ getting Higashioka enough plate appearances to have him ready by Opening Day, but that process began Thursday and will continue Friday, when Higashioka goes with the Yankees to Sarasota, Fla. to face the Orioles.
“He’s not going to be able to get a ton of at-bats, but that’s OK,” Boone said.
