Despite a struggle to find outfield chemistry to start the season, a recent trade by the San Francisco Giants is already paying dividends, and at a historic level.
San Francisco Giants outfielder Kevin Pillar stepped to the plate for the first time in the orange and black on April 2nd in a pinch-hitting appearance against the Dodgers.
He struck out.
He would start his first game as a Giant the next day and it didn’t get much better.
He went 0 for 4.
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Friday the 5th was his first home game, and for a guy who had spent his career to this point in the AL East, the opponent was very familiar: Tampa Bay.
In that three-game series, he got his first hit and scored his first run as a Giant, but he wasn’t much of a factor.
However, something about playing at home must have awoken Kevin Pillar because in his last four games he is hitting at a historic pace.
In the last four games, Pillar has hit three home runs, driven in 10 runs and now leads the team in both categories.
Plus he is quickly making friends:
Kevin Pillar is making a lot of friends: pic.twitter.com/WjB1IJ8nZ5
— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) April 12, 2019
Historically, Pillar has now been categorized with one of the greatest Giants hitters – maybe one of the greatest hitters period – Barry Bonds.
Pillar is the first Giant since Bonds in 2002 to drive in at least four runs in back to back games; which he did against the San Diego Padres on Monday and Tuesday.
It took Pillar just four games to amass better offensive numbers than the Giants did before they acquired him.
From Opening Day to April 1st (five games), the Giants had scored a total of just nine runs.
Pillar has not only driven in 10 but scored six times, which is a comparative boost to the Giants poor offense at the start of the season.
Pillar has shown flashes of power in recent seasons. His season-high is 16 which he hit in 2017, and he followed it up with 15 more and another season-high of 59 RBI last season.
It would seem as though, for the time being, the San Francisco Giants have won on their end of the trade, they have temporarily found good outfield chemistry, and the offense has improved to help support the pitching staff.