DUNEDIN, Fla. – After two full years at the MLB level, Kevin Pillar‘s more aware than ever of the toll that a long baseball season takes on players. And with that awareness comes an understanding of how durability can help teams win.
Intent on contributing as much as possible to the 2017 edition of the Toronto Blue Jays, Pillar underwent off-season thumb surgery, worked his way back to game readiness and arrived at spring training with the long view in mind. Ultimately he says he’ll measure the success or failure of the upcoming season by how long the Blue Jays play.
“I’m trying to build a machine,” Pillar said. “I’m trying to be a guy that can go out there and play 162 games that can still be climbing going into the post-season, not a guy just limping through.”
“We’ve set expectations for ourselves in this organization that we’re going to be playing that extra month,” Pillar added.
Pillar points to Aaron Sanchez as an example of someone who peaked at the right time in 2016. The right-hander posted a 3.08 ERA over the first three months of the season, pitched to a 2.91 ERA over the final three months and then contributed in the playoffs.
“When we lost that last (ALCS) game at home, when guys are coming in packing their bags he was there in the weight room,” Pillar recalled. “He got so much in a routine that it was just part of him.”
At that time, Pillar was playing through a torn left thumb ligament that would eventually require surgery. Toward the end of the season, the thumb issue weighed on him mentally and impacted his ability to grip a bat. Though he doesn’t use the injury as an excuse, he didn’t hit a regular season home run after hitting the disabled list Aug. 8.
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“I hated having to miss time and go on the DL with it, but taking those 15 days off really allowed me to get to where I felt I wasn’t hurting the team by playing,” Pillar said.
Four months later, the thumb feels “great” thanks to daily treatment. An off-season visit to California from Nikki Huffman of the Blue Jays’ high performance team helped Pillar build functional strength — the kind he can use during games. Bi-weekly batting practice sessions with hitting coach Brook Jacoby helped, too.
The 28-year-old centre-fielder no longer has any physical limitations, but he’ll still ease himself into spring training with a view toward staying fresh all year. He expects to start regularly during Grapefruit League play, but this year he plans on exiting spring games earlier as a way of reducing wear and tear on his body.
Pillar played in 159 games two years ago and followed that up with 146 in 2016. Ideally, he’d want to play in every last regular season game.
“That’s got to be your mindset,” he said. “You’ve got to train your body to want to play 162 every year. If you get those days off you enjoy them, you let your body rest up, but if those days don’t come you’re prepared to handle the workload.”
Just 39 players across MLB have played in more games than Pillar since he became a regular in 2015, and two of them now play alongside him: Josh Donaldson and Kendrys Morales. During that same time period Russell Martin ranks among the game’s most durable catchers.
“That’s the culture that over the past couple years we’ve been building,” Pillar said. “More than anything I think guys just really want to compete and win. Everyone in this clubhouse feels like if they’re on the field, the team’s better. That’s the mentality we want to have.
“If I’m out of the lineup, I don’t feel like our team’s as good. If Tulo’s out of the lineup, he doesn’t feel like our team’s as good. That’s not to be arrogant or selfish, it’s just confidence in our ability.”
Pillar hit .266 with a .303 on-base percentage last year, his fourth season with at least some time at the MLB level. He hit seven home runs, down from 12 in 2016, while stealing 14 bases compared to 25 the previous year. Regardless of how he was doing at the plate, though, he anchored a Blue Jays defence that contributed to the best run prevention of the American League.
“I think he’s only going to get better,” manager John Gibbons said. “He’s as good as you can get right now defensively. He wins you games with his glove. Kevin goes through his (offensive) ups and downs like anybody else, but he always seems to get a big hit that really gets things going when I look back over his couple years here.”
By wins above replacement, Pillar was still a 3.5-win player, well above league average. He’s aware of those numbers, as the Blue Jays undoubtedly are, but he judges himself more broadly.
“It’s not something I look at,” he said. “I like to be known as a guy that wins. If that’s a stat that proves that I help us win, then so be it, but the thing I rest my hat on at night is I’ve been part of this organization for a while, the last two seasons from start to finish, and we’ve been able to get to the ALCS in back-to-back years.
“I’d like to think I was a part of that whether the numbers say so or not.”
Those who have watched the Blue Jays over the past two seasons agree that Pillar’s a major reason for the team’s success. If he accomplishes his goal of staying in the lineup as often as possible in 2017, the Blue Jays will be that much closer to continuing their run of playoff appearances.
