Higgins has some major league experience. He played for the Chicago Cubs in both 2021 and 2022. He only played nine games in 2021, but in 2022 he saw playing time in 74 games and hit .229/.310/.383. Higgins split most of his time between catcher and first base for the Cubs that year.
Since signing with the Reds, he spent both of his seasons in Triple-A with the Louisville Bats. Over the course of the 2024 season, he appeared in 135 games in the International League and had 32 doubles to go along with 11 home runs while posting a .259/.320/.385 line for the Bats. Things didn’t go so well for him last year. Higgins played in 111 games for Louisville in 2025 and had 16 doubles and seven home runs while hitting .240/.300/.345. He struck out significantly less often in 2025 than he did in 2024, but it resulted in worse results across the board. You can view his career stats here.
Part of that could be him spending a lot more time behind the plate in 2025. Higgins played 66 games as the Bats catcher last season after doing the same just 28 times in 2024. In both seasons, he also played 20+ games at both first base and third base for Louisville.
The 32-year-old adds a bit to the Reds’ depth, although they likely won’t rely on him to fill in much at the big league level, as they have Tyler Stephenson, Jose Trevino and Ben Rortvedt on the 40-man roster as backstops, and Will Banfield in Triple-A. But Higgins could provide depth behind the plate in Louisville, while also being a guy who, if he starts hitting a bit, could fill a potential backup role in the major leagues if a catcher goes down. As a utility man who can be the third catcher on the big league roster, Tyler Stephenson would get a chance to be used a bit more on days when he isn’t behind the plate and Jose Trevino is leading the pitching staff.
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