Pillar shrugs off repeat Gold Glove snubs
DUNEDIN • A Toronto writer tugged on Superman’s cap on Thursday afternoon and the response was not anger, but quiet resignation.
Blue Jays centre- fielder Kevin Pillar was asked if he hopes to finally win a Gold Glove this season. Or if he even thinks about it.
“Not any more,” said Pillar, sitting at his locker in the Dunedin Stadium clubhouse. “I didn’t even think about it last year. I think there’s always a little part of me that once the season’s over and voting’s done and the nominations come out, that I hope my body of work speaks for itself.”
Unfortunately for the Jays’ veteran, his body of work — while hugely appreciated in Toronto — has not translated into a Gold Glove. Since he’s been patrolling the middle of the outfield for the Jays the last three seasons, the AL Gold Glove for centre fielders has gone to Tampa Bay’s Kevin Kiermaier in 2015 and 2017 and Byron Buxton of Minnesota last year.
The Gold Glove winners are voted by the managers and coaches with sabermetrics input provided by the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), which accounts for approximately 25 per cent of the vote. Last year Kiermaier missed two months because of a hairline fracture in his right hip and was not eligible for consideration. With him out of the picture, it was thought that Pillar would finally break through, but Buxton came away with the hardware.
Buxton recorded more defensive runs saved than the Toronto outfielder, but Pillar only made one error to Buxton’s five. Pillar also had more outfield assists. But while Pillar has readily admitted in the past that winning a Gold Glove would mean a lot to him, now he says it doesn’t matter as much, nor is he upset that it’s never happened for him even though he prides himself as being one of the best defensive outfielders in the game.
“It’s something I think I’m at peace with now. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t,” he said. “I don’t think winning that award is really going to tell the whole story of what I’m able to do out there.
“I understand only one guy can win it a year and I play a premium position as far as defence is concerned. But I don’t lose sleep over it anymore. I look at my body of work and know that it speaks for itself. I’m not out here to play the sabermetrics or the number games. I’m just going to go out there and try to make plays.”
Pillar, 29, makes no bones about the fact that he believes he should have won a Gold Glove. He’s not going to be disingenuous when asked that question.
“Of course, I think it should have happened,” he said. “I think if you take my body of work, you know I’m pretty confident that if it came down to a highlight tape and people got to sit back and watch that and make their vote based solely on that, I think there’s a chance of doing it. But obviously that’s not the way it’s voted on, numbers come into a factor there, too. But like I said, there’s some people out there who might play for the numbers, there’s some people who just play out there just to find a way to get it done. And I’m that guy. I just find a way to get it done and help our team win games.”
New right fielder Randal Grichuk is certainly a believer.
“I joke with him all the time about he’s going to make my job a lot easier and making me look better than I am,” said Grichuk. “The things he can do out there in centre field are impressive, arguably the best centre-fielder in the game, so it’s going to be nice playing next to him and getting used to him being able to track balls, his depth and range he has.”
In the off-season, Grichuk took a visual training course for his eyes.
“I also bought a pitching machine so I can track pitches. Not just seeing soft tosses and BP fastballs but being able to see the sliders, curve balls, change ups, whatever the case may be so I’m really excited to get things underway and kind of see what that has done for me. See if it’s helped.”