What's wrong with Kevin Pillar?

[Angrioter]

I'm really looking forward to seeing Sierra do a Sergio Santos for another organization.

 

Chronicle of a Death Foretold. HardThrower reliever

[Jays]

I'm really looking forward to seeing Sierra do a Sergio Santos for another organization.

 

I look forward to the day when we give up one of our top pitching prospects to get a damaged goods Moises Sierra to be our closer.

[kgm1]

He isn't Brett Gardner. The corners OFers should hit for power and he can't; The CFers should catch the balls and he can't.

 

Exactly , He is a tweener . Actually ,I don't think he makes a good 4th OF because of his walk rate . When your only getting occasional AB,s good strike zone management is key .

[TheHurl]

I'm really looking forward to seeing Sierra do a Sergio Santos for another organization.

 

At this point he might not get claimed and stay with the Jays

[kgm1]

The calls for Stroman to be brought up now are absolute stupidity . Sure there are some on the 40 man roster that are wofos ( Waste of f***ing oxygen ) but in a year that we are now better off finishing lower in the standings and getting a better draft pick plus wasting an option year on Stroman like we did with one start of Nolin would be sheer stupidity .

[KSaw]

Aren't you asking the wrong question? You ask what's wrong with him and not how good is he really? The truth is that he's not much better than Jim Negrych. He has more bat speed, a better arm and runs better. He's also 4 years younger. And even with that, he's not much better. Hit skill players become quite good at beating minor league pitchers. They become minor league all-stars. They win minor league games. Dig deeper and something like the speed you speak of becomes an example of what's wrong.

 

He runs well but he's not really that fast. He's quick and that's fine but then you look at his body type and how it projects and realize that he's expected to fill out like Eric Hinske did. Across the board you get a player who is pretty good at a lot of things but only great at hitting line drives off of minor league pitchers. There's no elite bat speed. There's no elite power. There's no indication that he can adjust well to MLB sharp and late break with his swing.

 

I'm not saying that he won't succeed or that he won't be good. I'm saying that without one projectable elite skill, it's hard to become a star. What's the difference between Pillar and Kirk Nieuwenhuis? End of the day, that's a pretty fair question.

[TheHurl]

Aren't you asking the wrong question? You ask what's wrong with him and not how good is he really? The truth is that he's not much better than Jim Negrych. He has more bat speed, a better arm and runs better. He's also 4 years younger. And even with that, he's not much better. Hit skill players become quite good at beating minor league pitchers. They become minor league all-stars. They win minor league games. Dig deeper and something like the speed you speak of becomes an example of what's wrong.

 

He runs well but he's not really that fast. He's quick and that's fine but then you look at his body type and how it projects and realize that he's expected to fill out like Eric Hinske did. Across the board you get a player who is pretty good at a lot of things but only great at hitting line drives off of minor league pitchers. There's no elite bat speed. There's no elite power. There's no indication that he can adjust well to MLB sharp and late break with his swing.

 

I've been trying to say this for a while now but I do think that what everyone else is saying and thinking is why not try and see what he's got. I've said all along though that no one hits lefties in the minors like he has (.367/.402/.536, and improving each year) without being able to hit major league lefties at an above average clip. Statistically Jeff Keppinger is an amazing comp for him and if Pillar could play as many positions as Keppinger I'd say he'd have a long MLB career.

 

What's the difference between Pillar and Kirk Nieuwenhuis? End of the day, that's a pretty fair question.

 

Contact! Pillar will strike out half as often as KN. If they ever got a 500 PA season that's 50ish extra balls in play.

[KSaw]

For Pullar I hope that 0.9 balls in play/week is not the only difference. That said, I like KN. he can play some CF, is good on the corners and his an all energy, always hustle player. He's also got a high baseball IQ. He's not a bad 4th outfielder and can and has gotten hot when called on to fill in for stretches because of injuries.

[KSaw]

Weak sophomore season so far though. The only improvement is the BB/K rate. Small sample size though.

[KSaw]

Cherry picking stats is never effective. Batting .236 with an OPS well over .700. He missed most of Spring Training and then began the season with an injured knee. He's never really gotten into any kind of groove in 2013. The kid is a ball player. Not sure if I should dispute the word mediocre or not because that might be what he is. Aren't most 4th outfielder types? He's decent and has upside and has a hit skill and bat speed but sure, he'd be a very mediocre starting player.

[GD]

Yeah Niewenheis is a mediocre 26-year-old outfielder in his fourth partial year at triple-A. Hitting .236 in Vegas. What could you possibly see in him?

 

.349 on a .273 BABIP, fwiw.

[Atothe]

What does a lack of power and inability to walk get you? Apparently 0-17 with 6 strikeouts. That -100 wRC+.

 

Talk about a sss you biased ass, just because you feel he's a scrub doesn't give you the right to s*** on him after 17 abs. Smfh

[gruber92]

Talk about a sss you biased ass, just because you feel he's a scrub doesn't give you the right to s*** on him after 17 abs. Smfh

 

Seriously..

[GD]

Talk about a sss you biased ass, just because you feel he's a scrub doesn't give you the right to s*** on him after 17 abs. Smfh

 

I didn't see anything incorrect about his post.

 

-He has posted low walk rates every year except 2012 in A ball

-His highest ISO is .194 this year

-He has a -100 wRC+

 

Yeah, it's 17 PAs, but man has he looked bad.

[gruber92]

i didn't see anything incorrect about his post.

 

-he has posted low walk rates every year except 2012 in a ball

-his highest iso is .194 this year

-he has a -100 wrc+

 

yeah, it's 17 pas, but man has he looked bad.

 

lol

[Nox]

ITT: People pining so hard for Reed Johnson 2.0.

[GD]

lol

 

Do tell us more, oh wise one

[Dr. Dinger]

The method is more important than the results; flat-out, his hit tool doesn't look like it will translate to thr majors due to a slow load/hitch and subpar batspeed. His pitch recognition has also been brutal, which leads me to believe he's been feasting on fringe fastballs in the minors. We already knew his power was below average, so if he can't hit, there's nothing to see here.

[eastcoastjaysfan]

That's exceeding his mean projection too. IIRC Johnson was a league-average bat for his career.

 

Reed/Cat LF platoon in 2006: .309/.395/.455 .850 OPS

 

Gibby's finest hour.

[GD]

That's exceeding his mean projection too. IIRC Johnson was a league-average bat for his career.

 

98 wRC+. 97 this year. High of 126, low of 68.

[TheHurl]

There hasn't been this kind of excitement for a career debut since Chris Carter

[Angrioter]

The method is more important than the results; flat-out, his hit tool doesn't look like it will translate to thr majors due to a slow load/hitch and subpar batspeed. His pitch recognition has also been brutal, which leads me to believe he's been feasting on fringe fastballs in the minors. We already knew his power was below average, so if he can't hit, there's nothing to see here.

 

Agree

Simple and direct......It's not about 0-17, the kid start all his AB in 0-2 count.

 

A freeswingger without pop, avg speed and defense isnt the big deal.

[Angrioter]

Reed/Cat LF platoon in 2006: .309/.395/.455 .850 OPS

 

Gibby's finest hour.

 

Ryan Braun stats?

[John_Havok]

Pillar reminds me of my ex girlfriend. False advertisement.

 

What, she was a man?

[John_Havok]

Happens to the best of us.

 

The Adam's apple wasn't quite a dead giveaway

[kgm1]

What, she was a man?

 

Thanks John I badly needed a chuckle tonite . I have been dealing with lawyers all day and trying to dig up the paperwork for them so I can try and get some money back from a bad investment and f*** thats ugly .

 

Need about an hour long shower after dealing with bastards

[kgm1]

What we need to do with Pillar is chop his head off , attach it to Sierra,s body and try and make a ballplayer Sierra won't notice he is brain dead already .

[kgm1]

His poor heart would have to start pumping oxygen up.

 

In all seriousness I think the guy must have a very low IQ and I'm starting to feel sorry for him . I mean nobdy can be that bad unless he has some sort of learning disability .

[GD]

I feel the same way. You look at those empty eyes and its hard to believe there's much of anything going on behind them. O/U in his IQ @ 35?

 

ftfy

[TheHurl]

72 PAs, 4.2 BB%, 27.8 K%, .077 ISO, .205 wOBA and 19 wRC+

 

Hitting .154/.214/.231..... But with a .205 BABIP

 

AA should have sold high

 

None of our minor leaguers should have careers as scouts, Kevin "Best Player I've Ever Seen" Pillar

 

selling high might have been tough when most everyone knew what he was/is. I'm completely shocked by the 2 for 17 against lefties (only 3 K's at least, with 2 walks) but he's exactly what many of us said he'd be against righties.