2017 BREAKOUT ALERT.. Kevin Pillar

[John_Havok]

The days of liking a guy for having a good glove (like Johnny Mac or Pillar) should never return. A bum is a bum.

 

Defense is a thing. Theres always room for the best/2nd best defensive CF in baseball on anyones team.

 

But they still have to be able to hit at least in the 10%-15% below average or better for that defense to really matter.

[Maahfaace]

The days of liking a guy for having a good glove (like Johnny Mac or Pillar) should never return. A bum is a bum.

 

7.5 WAR last 2 seasons at league min salary, a true bum.......

[gruber92]

Watch and learn folks..

[Daniel Labude]

Watch and learn folks..

 

Pillar is looking great at the plate right now...just needs to sustain it the whole year. He may even end up hitting above .280

[Spanky99]

Guys Gruber is a coaching Messiah... bow too him!

[ProfessionalAtBat]

3 for 3 ... what a bum ...

[Spanky99]

3 for 3 ... what a bum ...

 

Who's calling him a bum, dumn-dumn?

[gruber92]

Guys Gruber is a coaching Messiah... bow too him!

 

Now,now..

 

It's really up to Pillar to now stay within this approach and never sway off, especially during a cold spell. If he cements this approach, he'll be the MiLB player in the bigs. Wouldn't that be something!!

[Spanky99]

Now,now..

 

It's really up to Pillar to now stay within this approach and never sway off, especially during a cold spell. If he cements this approach, he'll be the MiLB player in the bigs. Wouldn't that be something!!

 

Quite different, from "watch and learn folks" ... 6 weeks in to a 6 month season... I'm loving it though. Don't start singing a different tune, as you did with Goins.

[John_Havok]

Will remain to be seen what happens when the new book on him gets out to pitchers. He has shown an improvement in swinging on balls outside the zone, and a increase on contact in the zone.

 

His opposite field results though are at a career low, with a corresponding increase on balls hit up the middle. Pull rate is abouut the same. Once defenses realize they don't need to play him straight up and shift a bit up the middle and to the pull side he will have to make an adjustment back to an all fields approach, or his numbers will dry up.

 

Also i'm not really buying a 40 point ISO increase when his IFFB rate is also up and his flyball and grounder rates arent really out of line with his career averages.

 

You can see he's made changes, but those changes do not account for all of his massive increase in numbers. He's also benefitting from some very good batted ball luck, especially on ground balls.

 

To summarize, yes there's been improvements, but those changes don't take an 80 wrc+ hitter to 130.

 

The other bad news is that his defensive performance has slipped dramically. Some of that is randomness in opportunities and some isn't and I'm not saying he's suddenly bad, because that would be foolish to suggest. Just saying that so far his defense overall hasn't been positive and it should be expected to rebound somewhat.

[burlingtonbandit]

He needs to play farther back in the OF imo especially when Stroman is on the mound. He's had a few balls go over his head that should have been caught.

[John_Havok]

He needs to play farther back in the OF imo especially when Stroman is on the mound. He's had a few balls go over his head that should have been caught.

 

This is true for nearly all CF in the game. I really don't understand why they don't play a few steps deeper. It's like they think they need to get those broken bat flares taken away. If a dying quail falls in for a hit, who cares...it's a single. If a ball gets over your head, it's a double or triple. Its also easier to run in on a ball than to track one mashed over your head. To me it's a no brainer for CF to play probably 5 steps deeper than they currently do.

 

Of course alot depends on the hitter at the plate and if there's a runner on second, an the stage in the game etc...but generally speaking I believe they should play deeper.

[saskjayfan]

Will remain to be seen what happens when the new book on him gets out to pitchers. He has shown an improvement in swinging on balls outside the zone, and a increase on contact in the zone.

 

His opposite field results though are at a career low, with a corresponding increase on balls hit up the middle. Pull rate is abouut the same. Once defenses realize they don't need to play him straight up and shift a bit up the middle and to the pull side he will have to make an adjustment back to an all fields approach, or his numbers will dry up.

 

Also i'm not really buying a 40 point ISO increase when his IFFB rate is also up and his flyball and grounder rates arent really out of line with his career averages.

 

You can see he's made changes, but those changes do not account for all of his massive increase in numbers. He's also benefitting from some very good batted ball luck, especially on ground balls.

 

To summarize, yes there's been improvements, but those changes don't take an 80 wrc+ hitter to 130.

 

The other bad news is that his defensive performance has slipped dramically. Some of that is randomness in opportunities and some isn't and I'm not saying he's suddenly bad, because that would be foolish to suggest. Just saying that so far his defense overall hasn't been positive and it should be expected to rebound somewhat.

 

I'm not really worried about his defense or his base running for that matter.

[John_Havok]

I'm not really worried about his defense or his base running for that matter.

 

I'm not either, he's never really been a great baserunner so expecting it would be silly. Defense is part ability, part opportunity and part luck. His ability is still there, the other 2 will even out.

[burlingtonbandit]

This is true for nearly all CF in the game. I really don't understand why they don't play a few steps deeper. It's like they think they need to get those broken bat flares taken away. If a dying quail falls in for a hit, who cares...it's a single. If a ball gets over your head, it's a double or triple. Its also easier to run in on a ball than to track one mashed over your head. To me it's a no brainer for CF to play probably 5 steps deeper than they currently do.

 

Of course alot depends on the hitter at the plate and if there's a runner on second, an the stage in the game etc...but generally speaking I believe they should play deeper.

 

He plays shallower when Stroman is on the mound which I think is wrong. Coaching staff needs to do a better job communicating this to the players. While Stroman gets

alot of groundballs his flyballs aren't shallower because of that.

[Spanky99]

So many coaches.

[wamco]

He said that playing shallow was stromans preference

[FrozenRopes]

He said that playing shallow was stromans preference

 

If true, Stroman needs to STFU and pitch. Pillar to Stroman: you should throw more curveballs.

 

See how stupid that sounds

[Hired Goon]

Give credit where it is due. Good call Gruber. I think Pillar has simply matured a bit. The shortened swing, the improved discipline, and the acceptance of his role have made a tremendous difference. The kid believes in himself.

[Boxcar]

Give credit where it is due. Good call Gruber. I think Pillar has simply matured a bit. The shortened swing, the improved discipline, and the acceptance of his role have made a tremendous difference. The kid believes in himself.

 

Credit where credit is due? Any prediction based on one game is absolutely retarded, no matter the outcome. A broken clock is right twice a day and all that.

[gruber92]

Credit where credit is due? Any prediction based on one game is absolutely retarded, no matter the outcome. A broken clock is right twice a day and all that.

 

Lol.. Go piss up a rope you miserable f***.

[Bobthe4th]

Lol.. Go piss up a rope you miserable f***.

 

Haha you give the best insults

[sdyment]

He said that playing shallow was stromans preference

 

I remember specifically that Stroman told him to play a bit shallower and if it was hit over Pillar's head then that was on him (Stroman). Now, whether or not that should be the pitchers call is another thing...

[Angrioter]

Kevin Pillar >> AJ Pollock

[Angrioter]

Kevin Pillar >> Starling Marte

[Boxcar]

I remember specifically that Stroman told him to play a bit shallower and if it was hit over Pillar's head then that was on him (Stroman). Now, whether or not that should be the pitchers call is another thing...

 

His ego is out of control. Christ, what a f***ing idiot.

[JonMc]

It feels like I'm in one of those quantum alternative reality shows, the one where Kevin Pillar is a sexy beast. But I can get used to it.

[King]

His new short and quick approach will do wonders. His HR total will be most likely be in the single digits, but his new approach will no doubt increase his numbers everywhere else. He sure looks a lot more comfortable at the plate in the few AB's he's had so far and it appears Jacoby may have found what he needed.

 

He's hit well at every level of pro ball except at the MLB level. He has a natural born ability in getting the barrel to the ball but big league stuff (especially secondaries) are recognized too late. His new shorter approach will allow him to let the ball travel a bit longer before committing. Just the way he's taking pitches now would indicate he's seeing the ball a lot better.

 

The talent is there, but his approach needed something to adjust to the superior MLB pitching. He seems like he may have found something, so look for his offensive numbers to be much better.

 

.285 / .330 / .440

Wow...

[John_Havok]

CMon king, I think we've beaten this dead horse enough.

 

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f*** it. Beat away, it was a f***ing moronic statement that deserves to be continuously mocked

[Orgfiller]

At least his defense is still good...offensively it's the same ol' Kevin.