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Boston Red Sox sign Kevin Pillar who is not Mookie Betts

By Ryan Sanders

BOSTON - JULY 14: Toronto Blue Jays center fielder Kevin Pillar makes a diving catch to rob Boston Red Sox second baseman Brock Holt (12), not pictured, of a hit during the third inning. The Boston Red Sox host the Toronto Blue Jays in a regular season MLB baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston on July 14, 2018. (Photo by Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
BOSTON - JULY 14: Toronto Blue Jays center fielder Kevin Pillar makes a diving catch to rob Boston Red Sox second baseman Brock Holt (12), not pictured, of a hit during the third inning. The Boston Red Sox host the Toronto Blue Jays in a regular season MLB baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston on July 14, 2018. (Photo by Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) /
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The Boston Red Sox have signed OF Kevin Pillar to a major league deal. Pillar will join the Mookie Betts-less Red Sox as a 4th outfielder.

When you think of Kevin Pillar, you probably think of incredible plays on defense that defy physics and invoke feelings of “Holy Sh*t”, “How did he catch that”, and other phrases of that ilk. Boston Red Sox hitters got a front-row seat to Pillar’s excellence when he patrolled CF for the Blue Jays. Now, they have signed him as a luxury 4th outfielder to be depth behind Andrew Benintendi, Alex Verdugo, and Jackie Bradley Jr.

Pillar was traded from Toronto to San Francisco in 2019 then after the season non-tendered him making him a free agent. Despite his below-average offense, Pillar launched a career-high 21 dingers and was worth 1.5 WAR. Pillar has had a damn good career racking up 11.8 fWAR including a 3.7 win season back in 2015.

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Not bad for a 32 round draft pick. At 31, his days of being an elite CF are behind him but he remains a good option as a 4th OF.

At this point in his career, Pillar is what he is offensively. His highest wRC+ mark of his career was 94 and over the past four years that mark has been in the 80s. His exit velocities aren’t great either so a late-career offensive renaissance is probably off the table.

On the positive side, he did post a 105 wRC+ against lefties so he should be able to carve out a new career as a bench outfielder.

Defensive Runs Saved has soured on Pillar the last two years with marks of -3 in 2019 and -2 in 2018. It’s a far cry from 2015 to 2017 when he racked up 58 DRS and was the 4th best outfielder by the metric. Statcast’s OAA wasn’t quite as down on Pillar giving him +2 OAA with his biggest negatives -4 OAA going in and -4 OAA going back right.

If there’s hope for Pillar to regain some of his defensive excellence, maybe the Red Sox can figure out better positioning for Pillar. Pillar was positioned as one of the stranger looking CFs in baseball.

His depth wasn’t notable but he played further to the right side of the field which is something he has never done in the past. Whether it was Pillar or the Blue Jays doing OF positioning it didn’t work for Pillar in 2019. He remains an above-average sprinter and has average jump so there’s reason to believe Pillar could be positive by DRS with better positioning.

He’s not Mookie Betts but Boston Red Sox fans will be treated to the usual highlight catches Pillar makes. It will make the 2020 season at least a little more enjoyable as they reset and look towards the future.

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Kevin Pillar has all the tools to remain an average player at 31 whether his defense improves or he can send a few more balls into the stands. Either way, it should be fun to watch.

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