Kyle Higashioka is an American-born MLB catcher who currently plays for the New York Yankees. Higashioka played college baseball for the California Golden Bears before making his professional league debut. His time at the University of California, Berkeley, however, was brief.
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Furthermore, let us delve deeper into Kyle Higashioka’s early life, net worth, salary, personal life, and everything else that we as his fans are interested in.
What is the Net Worth of Kyle Higashioka? Salary, Earnings
Kyle Higashioki, the Yankees’ catcher, is worth between $1 million and $5 million. He signed a contract with the New York Yankees after being selected in the MLB draft in 2008. Kyle received a $500k signing bonus in 2008, despite not playing any major matches until 2017.
Following that signing, Kyle played for about ten years in the minor leagues for various teams, surviving on an annual salary of only $15,000. Finally, in 2017, he agreed to a new one-year contract with the Yankees worth $535,000.To date, the player has earned more than $3 million in his MLB career. Furthermore, his starting salary for 2022 is $935,000.
Quick Facts
| Full Name | Kyle Harris Higashioka |
| Known as | Kyle Higashioka |
| Birth Date | April 20, 1990 |
| Birth Place | Huntington Beach, California |
| Nick Name | Higgy |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Nationality | American |
| Ethnicity | Japanese American |
| Education | •Edison High School (Huntington Beach, California)• the University of California, Berkeley (United States)
•Orange Coast College (Costa Mesa, California) |
| Zodiac sign | Taurus |
| Father’s Name | Ted Higashioka |
| Mother’s Name | Diane Higashioka |
| Siblings | A brother |
| Age | 32 Years Old |
| Height | 1.85 m (6 feet 1 inch) |
| Weight | 91 kg (202 lb) |
| MLB debut | April 10, 2017 |
| Hair Color | Black |
| Eye Color | Dark Brown |
| Playstyle | Bats: Right, Throws: Right |
| Build | Athlete |
| Marital Status | Married |
| Wife’s Name | Alyse Higashioka |
| Kids | None |
| Position | Catcher |
| Profession | Baseball Player |
| Net Worth | $1 – $5 million |
| Salary | $935,000 |
| Currently Plays for | New York Yankees |
| League | Major League Baseball (MLB) |
| Active Since | 2017 |
| Social Media | Instagram, Twitter |
| Merch | Baseball Trading Card |
| Last Update | September 2022 |
Where was Kyle Higashioka born? Ethnicity, Nationality, Family
Kyle Harris Higashioka, better known as Kyle Higashioka, was born in Huntington Beach, California on April 20, 1990. He is the eldest child of Ted and Diane Higashioka.In addition, he has a younger brother in the family whom he adores.
Kyle is a fourth-generation Japanese-American who was born and raised in Huntington Beach. Before the Second World War, Higashioka’s great-grandfather and his family immigrated to the United States. Shigeru Higashioka, his grandfather, was a war veteran who served in the American Army in Europe and was awarded the Bronze Star.
Ted’s father, who later lived and returned to Japan, was a resident of Japan for several years during his childhood. Shigeru had returned to Japan with his family to work as an oil company executive. Ted returned to the United States after several years and settled in Huntington Beach. He felt no need to speak Japanese when he returned because they had few Japanese neighbors where they lived.
As a result, his son Kyle never considered learning about his ancestors. Instead, as Kyle met more Spanish-speaking friends as a child, he felt compelled to learn the language and is now fluent in Spanish in addition to English. He only began learning Japanese after meeting Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka.
It’s been more than four years since he first became interested in his Japanese ancestors, their people, and their culture. Higashioka is finally content and admits that having a mixed-race family is a blessing. Diane, Higashioka’s mother, is White American.
Education
Kyle attended Edison High School in Huntington Beach with his younger brother while growing up in California. He attended the University of California, Berkeley, after graduating from high school. Although he had planned to continue his baseball career after graduation, he dropped out of college after signing a contract with the New York Yankees.
He did, however, later enroll at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa to study Mechanical Engineering, as promised to his mother, Diane.
How did Kyle Higashioka start his Professional Career?
A career in the Minor Leagues
Kyle decided to pursue a professional baseball career shortly after being drafted in the seventh round by the New York Yankees while still in high school. He spent the entire 2012 season with the Tampa Yankees and Trenton Thunder, playing in the Class A-Advanced State Leagues.
Kyle, on the other hand, missed nearly two seasons after suffering a severe injury at the end of the 2012 season. He injured his thumb and elbow so badly that he needed Tommy John surgery to fully recover from his elbow injury.
Fortunately, Kyle’s 2016 season was quite satisfactory. He began his career with the Trenton Thunder of the Class AA Eastern League, where he excelled. As a result, he was allowed to play for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate. Higashioka was promoted to the major leagues in 2017 after catcher Gary Sanchez was injured.
Baseball Career
Kyle Higashioka made his MLB debut as a defensive replacement on April 10, 2017, ten years after being drafted. Unfortunately, he had to return to RailRiders after Sanchez recovered from his injuries in May. For him, the rest of the 2017 season was unpredictable and irregular. He bounced between MiLB and MLB, with a knee injury complicating matters in the meantime.
Higashioka began the 2018 season with the RailRiders, but the Yankees called him up after Sanchez suffered another injury. Kyle played 72 games this season, averaging.167/.241/.319 at-bats.
Kyle was successful in later seasons despite not getting many opportunities to play for the Yankees. Furthermore, he became the 24th Yankee to have a three-home run game in 2019 and the first Yankee to catch a no-hitter since 1999 in 2021.
Higashioka has already established himself as a key catcher for the Yankees and is performing admirably this season.
Career Achievements & Accolades
Some of Kyle’s achievements are:
- Roberto Clemente Award nominee (2021)
- FSL Mid-Season All-Star (2015)
- International League Player of the Week (2016)
- Yankee’s Best Defensive Catcher (2017)
How tall is Kyle Higashioka? Weight, Hair Color
Kyle Higashioka will be 32 years old in 2022. Kyle stands 1.85 meters (6 feet 1 inch) tall and weighs approximately 202 lb (91 kg). In addition, the Yankee player has black hair and dark brown eyes.
Many fans have true crushes on the handsome-looking Yankee catcher. Unfortunately for them, Kyle is a married man who is overjoyed to be married to his longtime girlfriend, Alyse.
Going through his Instagram profile, whose bio reads, “I am a married baseball player,” you can tell how happy he is to have her. Furthermore, the player’s social media handle is full of appreciation posts for his beautiful wife.
Alyse is a little older than Kyle because she was born on April 3, 1990, just seventeen days before he was. After years of dating, the two finally married on November 13, 2016. They do not yet have children, but they do have a dog named Millie.
Kyle, you’re a good guy! Kyle has a reputation for being a good guy outside of baseball, in addition to being a professional baseball player and an exemplary family man. He is well-known for his dedication to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation (SOWF).
SOWF is a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting the families of fallen and injured special operations personnel. Kyle has contributed financially to the organization on numerous occasions and frequently participates in fund collection. Similarly, Higashioka is a big fan of the MLB Youth Academy in Compton, where he spends his free time counseling and helping young players who want to be Major Leaguers in the future.
Kyle received the Ben Epstein/ Dan Castellano Good Guy Award from the BBWAA’s New York chapter in 2021 for his numerous commendable works outside baseball.
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