Pillar adds big hits to highlight reel
Blue Jays’ acrobatic centre-fielder is proving to be a tough out atop the batting order
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Already established as a force in centre field, Kevin Pillar wanted to give more to the Toronto Blue Jays.
He wanted to offer more at the plate, both in consistency and production. He wanted to be more of a regular participant in the vibrant offence led by Josh Donaldson and Jose Bautista.
And in short, he wanted to be the team’s lead man on offence as well as in the outfield.
By settling in at the top of the Jays’ batting order, particularly as second baseman Devon Travis has struggled, Pillar is seeing the benefits of an off-season of adjustments, both mentally and physically.
“I’m just seeing the game a little different, understanding that it’s a hard-ass game and there’s going to be a lot of failures,” Pillar said. “I’ve learned to see success in a different way and that’s really helped me to be more confident.
“I don’t see success as I used to see it in the sense that success can only be defined as getting a hit or hitting the ball hard. To me it’s ‘did I execute my play, did I stay aggressive, was I confident?’ I understand in this game if I can relate the feeling of going out there confident and aggressive and stick with my play and lay out my swing, that’s the key to being successful in this game.”
Funny how that works. By not worrying about stats and performance in the micro view and sticking to that plan, Pillar is off to a solid start at the plate.
Prior to Monday’s conclusion of a four-game series with the Los Angeles Angels, his .315 batting average is the best on the team and enough to have him nosing around the top 10 in the AL in that category.
Pillar had home runs in the previous two games of the series and his 11-game hitting streak is the longest active stretch in the AL.
Coming off seasons hitting .266 and .278, that’s a notable jump for Pillar and especially valuable on a team that has been struggling offensively.
“He’s showing more discipline,” Jays manager John Gibbons said. “It was something he was conscious of in spring training. He’s always been an aggressive hitter, but he’d chase out of the zone any time he got two strikes. But he’s backed off of that and laying off that stuff. Once he gets (pitches) in the zone, he’s going to be a heck of a better hitter.”
Pillar wants to set things straight in one area, however. Much was made of his new approach in the spring and wrongly interpreted as an attempt to be more patient to draw more walks.
But in Pillar’s mind there is an important distinction: Discipline doesn’t mean laying off.
“If a guy wants to challenge me first pitch, you better believe I’m coming for him,” the California native said. “With the understanding that I don’t have to swing at anything and everything, that I can pick and choose but be ready from pitch one in every single at-bat.”
Through his work on the mental side, Pillar has also learned to be easier on himself when things are a little off at the plate.
Last Friday’s marathon win over the Angels was rather illustrative of that. When he came to the plate in the 13th inning, his only success up to that point had been a sacrifice bunt hours earlier. But rather than grip the ball a little tighter, he got bat to ball and on base to start what was the winning rally in the wild 8-7 win.
“That was a little snapshot into my approach,” Pillar said. “Facing a little adversity in that game with that many at-bats and not really doing anything to help the team … staying the course and staying confident gave me an opportunity to help the team win.”
The new approach has been a nice fit at the top of the order.
“I like it for a lot of different reasons,” Pillar said of batting leadoff. “I feel like I have the opportunity every day to set the tone for the rest of the guys in the lineup by going out there confident and aggressive.
“I like feeling like I’m getting involved in the offence early. It just feels like your turn in the batting order comes up more frequently and it’s like every inning I’m looking for my helmet and my batting gloves to get ready to go take an at-bat.”
For the past several seasons, Pillar has looked around the Jays’ dugout and seen players who could be counted on to produce at the plate. Not only did he want to join in, he was confident in his ability to do so. An off-season focusing on ways to do it has so far paid off.
“Right now I think I’m just in a good place mentally,” Pillar said. “Confident in my ability, confident in the way my teammates view me and really not trying to be anybody but myself. I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel, I’m just trying to be a better version of myself.”