Homer No. 7: How Higgy got his groove back

TAMPA, Fla. -- Kyle Higashioka is the most dangerous hitter in Major League Baseball, at least in the Cactus and Grapefruit Leagues. Now the challenge is for the Yankees’ catcher to carry that production over into the regular season.

Higashioka homered twice in Saturday’s rain-shortened 10-0 victory over the Braves at George M. Steinbrenner Field, giving him a Major League-leading seven home runs this spring -- two more than the Pirates' Diego Castillo, the Red Sox's Rafael Devers and the Reds' Aramis García (five).

“Overall, I feel pretty good at the plate,” Higashioka said. “Every at-bat is just learning something new. I’m having a lot of success early, hitting the ball hard, which is always good to see. The key is just continuing that through the season.”

The 31-year-old Higashioka hit a two-run shot in the third inning off Justin Maese, then added a solo shot in the fifth off Jake Higginbotham. Higashioka is batting .478 (11-for-23) with 11 RBIs in nine games this spring.

“Let’s bring some of those north now,” manager Aaron Boone said. “He’s in a good spot. He’s confident. We need him.”

With Gary Sánchez traded to the Twins, Higashioka will begin the season as the Yankees’ starting catcher. Ben Rortvedt remains sidelined by a right oblique strain and Boone remains undecided on Higashioka’s backup; the club was considering Rob Brantly, David Freitas and Max McDowell for that job, but after acquiring Jose Trevino from the Rangers on Saturday, it seems the newest Yankee will begin the year as the backup.

Two years ago, Higashioka outperformed Sánchez in the second half of the season, claiming starts behind the plate in the postseason. Boone said that performance should prove Higashioka is a more potent offensive player than the .181 batting average he posted in 193 at-bats last season.

“I feel like we’ve seen glimpses of this; the power shouldn’t surprise you,” Boone said. “We’re seeing him use the whole field with power. Not that we haven’t seen him go the other way or to the middle of the field on occasion, but I feel like that’s gone to another level. He cares a lot about it and works really hard at it. Now it’s just about him becoming a consistently tougher out against right-handed pitching.”

Glimpse of tomorrow
The Yankees tested the PitchCom pitch-calling system for the first time on Saturday, with Higashioka wearing a special wristband that could electronically transmit pitch selection to pitchers Luis Severino and Nestor Cortes, who wore a small speaker in their caps.

There was initial reluctance in the clubhouse to the devices, which are intended to improve the pace of play and eliminate illegal sign stealing. The Yanks decided about an hour before first pitch to give it a shot. Having seen the system in practice, the team now may utilize it during the regular season.

“Sevy wanted to do it,” Boone said. “Not knowing how smooth it would go, I think Higgy started to like it after the first couple of innings. He got really comfortable with it. I think they’re on to something.”

PitchCom was utilized in the Minors last season. The catcher’s transmitter looks like a video game controller, with black buttons corresponding to pitches and locations.

The pitcher and catcher wear a six-inch rubber receiver inside their cap or helmet, producing a generic male voice that speaks instructions like “fastball up and in” or “slider down and away.”

“I think it was well received by the group,” pitching coach Matt Blake said. “We’re going to try to ram it into situations for the next three or four days. I’d say there is definitely positive reinforcement from the guys.”

Top of the order
Josh Donaldson hit leadoff for the Yanks on Saturday, contributing a run-scoring single to the offensive attack. Boone said he is entertaining having the 2015 American League MVP hit there during the regular season. Donaldson has hit leadoff seven times in his career; all were for the Blue Jays in '15.

“I’ve been using Donaldson there a lot, and I like it,” Boone said. “I like DJ [LeMahieu] in the middle, but I also like DJ leading off -- especially against lefties, where you might overload the righties a little bit at the top. I feel like we have a few good options, depending on who the opponent is.”

Boone acknowledged that neither Donaldson nor LeMahieu is a prototypical leadoff hitter, pointing instead to their long track records of getting on base.

“You always want the unicorn of Rickey Henderson leading off; a guy that gets on who can really run,” Boone said. “But if you really sit down and think about that, it’s a little ridiculous. You want a good player to hit in that spot. You want a guy that gets on base. It’s great if anyone can run … but I think the biggest thing is, I want a good hitter who gets on base a lot.”