Mind Games: Blue Jays' Kevin Pillar details keys to sustaining his strong start

Jenn Smith

Mind Games: Blue Jays' Kevin Pillar details keys to sustaining his strong start image

TORONTO – While the Blue Jays currently find themselves mired in an early-season slump amidst injuries and underperforming players, Kevin Pillar remains the one constant bright spot.

Pillar came out of the gate swinging and is off to his hottest start in six major-league seasons. He is currently slashing .294/.332/.486 with a .817 OPS and 117 wRC+. Despite having played just over a quarter of the season, Pillar has already been worth 1.3 WAR according to Fangraphs – almost equalling his total 1.9 WAR from last season.

“I’ve gone back to the drawing board more times than, hopefully, I care to do ever again,” Pillar told Sporting News. “But the one thing I told myself this year, especially getting off to a good start, is: what I’ve been doing is working, it can work, it is repeatable, it is sustainable. This is baseball.”

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Pillar got off to a similar hot start in 2017 when he hit 308/.358/.494/.852 with a .331 BABIP through to the same point in the season. What appears to be different to this point is his batted ball profile. Pillar is hitting the ball harder than he has in his major-league career. His hard contact rate sits at 34.5% in comparison to 26.7% for his career, while his soft contact rate is down to 15.5 versus 23.3% for his career. As a result, Pillar’s line drive rate is up while both his ground ball rate and fly ball rate are down. He is also hitting more home runs per fly balls.

“I think it ultimately comes down to swinging at better pitches,” Pillar explained. “I think it comes down to having a better plan. Doing a little bit more homework on the pitchers I’m going to face, but ultimately understand what my strength is as a hitter and try not to deviate from that a whole lot. Obviously, the line drive percentage, the hard-hit percentage are all goals of mine, something that is achievable.”

When it comes to his approach at the plate, Pillar teeters between buying into new-school analytics and the old-school approach of just hitting the ball hard.

“You know, I’m kind of in that fringe area of fully wanting to buy into analytics of launch angle and stuff like that, and kind of old-school where I just try to hit the ball hard,” he offered. “It’s not something I think when I’m in the batters’ box or when I’m taking batting practice that I’m consciously thinking about doing, of hitting the ball at a certain angle, but hitting the ball hard is definitely my ultimate goal.

“Ideally staying off the ground. But I’m not going to be one of those guys who is never going to hit the ball on the ground, like that’s not going to be the worst-case scenario is that I hit the ball on the ground. You see some of these players that will just refuse to hit the ball on the ground. I understand there is a lot of hits on the ground if you hit the ball hard but I think it really just comes down to swinging at good pitches and more than anything just being confident.”

Renowned for his offensive production in the minor leagues, the 29-year old center fielder has become better known for his defensive prowess at the major-league level, being anointed the nickname “Superman” for his heroic diving catches. As the captain of the outfield, Pillar already has played with eight different corner outfielders this season, including triple-A call-ups Dalton Pompey, Anthony Alford and Dwight Smith Jr.

 

Despite this, he says he has not had to make many adjustments.

“Honestly, it’s nothing really new since I’ve been here,” said Pillar. “You know, I had a staple in right field for a long time with Bautista. Even with how durable he was, he missed some time when I was here, too, so it was always kind of a rotating door out there. It was just something I had to get used to, something where I had to step up and be a leader maybe even before I wanted to be.”

Pillar credits communication with the revolving door of corner outfielders as key to playing as a cohesive unit.

“It’s just me having to step up and be a leader out there and let them know what I expect out of them and possibly communicate in between pitches and when a new hitter goes up there and just have them really feel comfortable out there. I want them to know that maybe I’m the alpha out there and I’m going to catch everything I can, but that doesn’t mean they need to take a back seat. And that just really comes with sitting down with them before we even get on the field and just communicate with them and give them the confidence to go out there and be who they are.”

MORE: Want to be a true leader in MLB? Follow the example of Curtis Granderson

By design, Pillar was always going to have a tandem of teammates playing left field with the platoon of Curtis Granderson and Steve Pearce. But, early-season injuries to Pearce and right fielder Randal Grichuk and a tight hamstring that cost Granderson a few games in early May means that Pillar has been the only constant in the outfield. In fact, after 47 games, Pillar is the only everyday player who has yet to miss a game.

“I really pride myself on is being able to go out there and play every single day,” said Pillar. “Whether I’m physically not feeling 100 percent, I’m going to find a way to get myself out there and be able to compete at the highest level I can.”

For Pillar, the mental aspect of the game is critical to his ability to take the field and perform optimally every game.

“I think that just comes with maturity and understanding you’re not going to be the maximum level of confident every time you step into the batters’ box or step out on the field, but you got to learn how to fake yourself into believing you are a confident player out there, you are feeling well, you have no clutter in your brain whatever issues you might have off the field don’t matter,” explained Pillar.

“I think that’s the hardest thing to learn to do at the highest level, is to trick your mind into believing you are something you may not be that day, which is confident, or you might not have issues off the field that are kind of swimming around in your brain. But it just comes with the professionalism it takes to be at the highest level. You got to be able to separate whatever is off the field and on the field and just go out there and understand this is your job and your teammates, your organization expect you to go out there and perform at a certain level.”

 

Naturally, no matter what type of physical and mental preparation a player undergoes, he will inevitably encounter a downturn in his performance at some point over the course of a 162-game season. Pillar is 0 for his last 8 at-bats and 4 for his last 25. He spoke candidly about his recent, albeit brief, struggles at the plate.

“In this very current moment of time over the last couple of games I don’t feel as confident as I did throughout the entire season, whether it’s just not a good feel for my swing or not picking up the ball well. But [something] I’ve learned throughout my struggles and throughout some of the successes I’ve had is just kind of maintaining that same level of confidence and belief in myself every time I step in the box that this is the pitch or this is the at-bat that I’m either going to find my swing, I’m going to hit a ball hard, I’m going to see the ball well.”

The ability to “see the ball well” is something that average fan likely does not understand despite hearing the phrase used repeatedly by players and analysts.

“It’s just really picking up the release point when the guy pitches the ball and really just trying to pick up the spin on the ball. It sounds something that, I guess for someone that doesn’t play the game, it seems like it should be real easy to do,” offered Pillar.

He took the concept of “seeing the ball well” one step further, breaking down the actual science of hitting a baseball and how second-guessing oneself can lead to a slump.

 

“And then when you really break down hitting to the scientific perspective, they say you have about .4 seconds to make a decision,” explained Pillar. “The eye physically does not see the ball the last, whatever, 20 feet, the brain can’t register that information that quick in order for you to make a swing, the swing takes about .2 seconds to get off. So, seeing the ball is the most important thing to do and if you’re not seeing it well, it causes you to second-guess what you’re actually seeing, causes you to chase out of the zone a little bit more. You start guessing a little bit more, you start anticipating, you sort of swing before you actually can process what the information is and that just kind of leads to a little downward spiral. So, for guys that struggle with that sometimes you’ll see them go up there and be a little bit more patient. They’ll take pitches. They’ll really try to track the ball in and sometimes it’s just part of the game. Whether it’s a focus thing, a guy hiding the ball well, it’s just something we all go through as hitters.”

Pillar is no stranger to offensive slumps, but says he no longer goes back to the drawing board when he finds himself struggling at the plate.

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“For me, it’s really not about change. It’s just about going back and putting in the work and repeating, knowing that what I’m doing is right and it works. And, with that, I can do a lot of things well in an at-bat and the industry can still see me as a fail, whether that’s in an at-bat or a series of at-bats or a week worth of at-bats. But really not try to deviate from the plan and that’s something that I’ve witnessed in here from really good hitters, successful hitters, is just about putting in the work. It’s not always about change, it’s just sometimes that’s how it goes.

“Baseball is a tough sport.”

Pillar has always been cognizant of the need to be successful for both himself and his family, but this season, he has one more precious reason to keep grindig. Kevin and his wife Amanda welcomed their daughter, Kobie Rae Pillar, into the world this past October.

 

 

My ladies❤️🇨🇦

A post shared by Kevin Pillar (@kpillar11) on

 

“I realize I have an amazing opportunity to give my daughter anything and everything she needs to be successful in life by me going out there and being successful,” Pillar shared with me. “Ultimately, it really just comes down to one day she’s going to look back where she’s going to be old enough and she’s going to get to see me play and see how happy it makes me and how passionate I am about what I do and hopefully it’s going to encourage her to follow her dreams and be passionate about something and understand that really dreams can come true because this was a dream of mine since I was a little kid and her dad gets to do it every single day and that’s kind of what I’m hoping to accomplish.”

While it is still far too early in the season to discuss who will represent the Blue Jays at this year’s All-Star Game in July, Kevin Pillar is the leading candidate to date. It is an honour that, if bestowed upon him, would be a career-first for Pillar, who at this point is the clear candidate on a team of struggling players.

“Obviously, it would be a dream come true. A huge honour for me. I’d love to represent this team at the All-Star Game. But, ultimately, I know I have a long time to go until that decision is made. It’s just about going out there and focusing on today and if I could put together good todays it’s going to lead to a successful season.”

Jenn Smith