So...I stumbled out of bed this morning in a strange country, and woke up to a text message from my girlfriend that read:
Did you hear your man is leading the league in hits?
The man she is referring to is Kevin Pillar, who is of course tied for the lead in hits in the AL with the incomparable Corey Dickerson and superstar Starlin Castro. (Yes, its
still early). Her winky smiley is of course in reference to my tongue in cheek disdain for Kevin, centered around his adamantium chin and utter disregard for walks.
As I stumbled around my hotel room getting ready for work, I recalled something I had said two off-seasons ago:
Crazy prediction time; one of two things will happen in 2016 (1) Drew Hutchison goes full metal Arrieta, or (2) Kevin Pillar goes full metal Pollock
Crazy indeed. While Drew Hutchison continues to have a perpetual blank stare on his face, Kevin Pillar might actually be making my ridiculous prediction look somewhat based in reality. At the time, Kevin had just come off his age 26 season where he produced a .278/.314/.399 slash line, with a .310 wOBA, 93 wRC+, .121 ISO, and 16.6 defensive runs saved (good for 4.3 fWAR in '15). In Pollock's age 25/26 season (late birthday), he produced a .269/.322/.409 slash line, with a .321 wOBA, 98 wRC+, .140 ISO, and 18.5 defensive runs saved (good for 3.6 fWAR in '13).
Pollock of course went on to slash .311/.363/.498 from age 27-28, producing a wOBA of .371, wRC+ of 132, ISO of .186, with a 7.5% BB rate, 16.8 defensive runs saved and 9.8 fWAR over 960 PA's. Or otherwise known as all the awesome.
As of this morning, Pillar is slashing .313/.365/.509, with a .374 wOBA, 138 wRC+, .196 ISO, and (perhaps most surprisingly) a 7.3% BB rate. And make no mistake, the main difference in his game is indeed the selectivity manifested in the walk rate. Where he was Arencibia-like (~4% BB) from the ages of 24-27, age 28 has seemed to have brought a higher degree of selectivity. He's stated himself that his approach has changed to incorporate a higher level of patience.
Perhaps most encouraging is the fact that there is no material change in batted ball profile. His LD%, GB%, and FB% are in line with his career averages, and though HR/FB rate and BABIP are both up, the HR/FB% is in line with the 2017 league average, and the BABIP is more similar to the figures he had in his minor league career.
Oh yeah, and he still does ish like this....
Sorry for the long post....this would've been a Blue Jays Hipsters article.
Oh yeah....and still hate you, Kevin.