PILLAR OF RESILIENCE
‘Ultimate team guy’ is battling for spot in Sox outfield in 12th season
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Manager Pedro Grifol saw Kevin Pillar make plenty of plays roaming the outfield for the Toronto Blue Jays.
“You always admire how he played the game,” Grifol said. “How selfless he played it. What I mean by that, he’s an ultimate team guy. But he also threw his body around to do whatever it takes for the team.
“This guy was diving on turf, diving into walls. And that really sets a tone for a team. I saw it over and over again.”
Pillar is at Chicago White Sox camp as a nonroster invitee. He was at the top of the batting order for Friday’s Cactus League opener against the Cubs at Sloan Park in Mesa, Ariz. He went 0-for-2, striking out twice in the 8-1 loss. Designated hitter Tim Elko homered in the second inning.
Pillar, 35, is competing to help in the outfield. He started in right field Friday.
“I’ve had a pretty good sense of what direction this organization’s trying to go in after having conversations with (general manager Chris Getz) over the phone in the offseason and once I signed here, I was able to talk to Pedro over the phone,” Pillar said this week. “Both minds are aligned in the direction they want this team to go and I can just see by some of the additions that this team has made, even in some of the nonroster invites, the type of people, the places they’ve been, what they bring to the table, besides just their talent on the field, what kind of presence they demand in here and what kind of work that they do every single day and just try to lead some younger guys by example.
“To be honest, when you get a little bit older in this game, the opportunities aren’t as abundant. But I was fortunate to have this opportunity with a storied franchise and a franchise that is aligned with my values and what they’re trying to accomplish.”
The Sox have an opening in right field. Pillar is an option, along with Dominic Fletcher, Gavin Sheets, Zach DeLoach, Oscar Colás, Brett Phillips and Mark Payton — to name a few.
“The number of guys we’ve got, it just creates more competition,” Grifol said. “That job’s open. It could be one guy, it could be a combination of two guys. But it’s open. Everybody’s got their track record, which is a good thing. But at the same time, you’ve still got to go out there and perform.”
Pillar has a career .257/.294/.409 slash line with 106 home runs and 423 RBIs in 1,114 games during 11 seasons with the Blue Jays (201319), San Francisco Giants (2019), Boston Red Sox (2020), Colorado Rockies (2020), New York Mets (2021), Los Angeles Dodgers (2022) and Atlanta Braves (2023).
“It’s never easy transitioning from a team that had (104) wins to a team that had (61) wins, but this is a team that has been discussed over the last couple of years as a team that has a ton of talent and an opportunity to win the division every year in a very winnable division,” Pillar said. “It’s just trying to point the ship in the right direction and put the value back in winning, and I think the guys in the clubhouse can do that.”
Grifol pointed out Pillar’s leadership, energy and championship mentality.
“I take that as a huge honor,” Pillar said when asked about
positive feedback from his clubhouse presence. “I know I can still play this game at a high level, but there’s a lot of people in this sport that can do that. There’s some guys a lot younger than I am that can probably bring similar attributes, but I have a lot of experience and I’ve been around a lot of great players and a great organization, and that experience is priceless and so valuable to a
team that’s trying to change their culture and the direction they’re going in.”
John Brebbia discusses calf strain:
The Sox reliever is taking it day to day as he recovers from a right calf strain.
“To be honest, I don’t know exactly what a timeframe would look like because I can pitch,” he said Friday. “But if there’s a ground ball to first and I run to first, that’s more of a challenge.”
The injury occurred Wednesday during the middle of his live bullpen session.
“Threw a pitch, it was a soft ground ball, so I gave a couple half-steps toward first as if it’s a PFP (pitchers fielding practice),” he said. “And then I turned around to walk back to the mound and my first step going toward the mound, I felt it pop. I finished the BP, didn’t affect my stuff, which is great. I guess moving side to side is fine, but front to back isn’t.
“It was one of those things that when it happened I was like, ‘You know what, I’m going to skip running today. I’m going to give it a breather tonight and maybe ease into the running tomorrow.’ And they were feeling it, and they were like, ‘No. Don’t do that. We’re not going to run for a little bit.’ Especially because I was able to get back on the mound and continue to pitch, I was pretty surprised to hear that they were going to put me in a boot.”
The Sox envision the righthander being ready to go for the season.
Sox claim outfielder off waivers from Orioles:
The Sox claimed outfielder Peyton Burdick off waivers from the Baltimore Orioles and placed reliever Matt Foster on the 60-day injured list to continue his rehabilitation from Tommy John surgery.
Burdick, 27, hit .182 (6-for33) with two doubles, one home run and two RBIs in 14 games with the Miami Marlins last season. He spent most of 2023 at Triple-A Jacksonville, batting .219 with 20 doubles, two triples, 24 homers and 74 RBIs in 114 games.