Higashioka achieves rare feat to help Padres edge Cardinals

SAN DIEGO -- Kyle Higashioka isn’t going to “win the trade.” If the Padres eventually are judged to have gotten a square deal when they traded Juan Soto to the Yankees in December, it will be because of the arms they landed.

But that doesn’t mean Higashioka is an afterthought. Oh, and he has an arm, too.

Higashioka did something rare Wednesday afternoon as the Padres earned a 3-2 victory over the Cardinals at Petco Park to avoid a three-game sweep. In one inning, he threw out two runners attempting to steal and hit a home run.

No Padres catcher has achieved such a feat in one inning, dating back to 1974, when inning-specific data is available.

“I just try to do what’s presented to me in the moment,” Higashioka said. “I feel that throwing out the guys is kind of my job. The homer is a bonus.”

When the Padres traded Soto, they got four pitchers and Higashioka. Michael King is in the Padres rotation, and Jhony Brito is in the bullpen. Prospect Drew Thorpe was flipped to the White Sox to acquire frontline starter Dylan Cease. Randy Vásquez is at Triple-A El Paso. Higashioka, meanwhile, is the veteran backup catcher behind breakout starter Luis Campusano.

Higashioka, 33, gave Campusano a breather on Wednesday and guided Joe Musgrove through six innings of one-run ball and closer Robert Suarez through a five-out save. The run off Musgrove came in the fourth inning, which could have been a big inning for St. Louis if not for Higashioka.

The Cardinals had three hits in the frame, but Higashioka nailed both Brendan Donovan and Nolan Arenado trying to steal second base. In the bottom half, the catcher jumped on a 3-2 fastball in the middle of the zone against lefty Zack Thompson and pulled it into the second deck in front of the Western Metal Supply Co. building in left field.

The defense/offense combo wasn’t just a Padres unicorn. It hadn’t been done by a catcher in the Majors since June 13, 2000, when Bengie Molina pulled it off in the second inning for the Angels on the road against Tampa Bay.

“That’s pretty cool,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said.

Shildt is giving Campusano every opportunity to become a top-shelf catcher. That puts Higashioka squarely in a backup role. In his eighth big league season, he has the veteran savvy that pays dividends behind the plate.

“We want to make sure we’re keeping Higgy engaged,” Shildt said. “He’s done a nice job. … Just go out, be ready to receive -- which he does very well. He does a good job behind the plate. He has a good idea how to work with the pitcher -- not only follow the game plan, but also when things don’t go completely right, make adjustments.”

Musgrove said he did indeed make some adjustments after conferring with Higashioka. Last start, Musgrove said, he got too caught up in reacting to the batter’s approach. This time around, he listened to Higashioka and was proactive.

“It was more my mix,” Musgrove said.

Higashioka, meanwhile, had plenty of adjustments to make following the trade. He was drafted in 2008 and spent his whole career up to this point with the Yankees’ organization, after all. But he now has had Spring Training and a homestand under his belt to adapt to the new environs.

“It’s been good, really good,” Higashioka said. “From the front office all the way down to the staff and my teammates, they’ve made it pretty easy to transition to a new ballclub. I think the key is the fact that we’re a team that wants to win, too.

“This is not any sort of step down or whatever. We’re trying our best every single day to win. The key is just keeping that intensity every time we go out on the field. In your head, it should never be any different, no matter what team you’re playing for.”