Blue Jays’ Kevin Pillar is in some hot water

After striking out in the 7th inning, Kevin Pillar had some choice words for Jason Motte. Turns out the word(s) he chose to use could have him in some hot water.

Things were going so well for the Blue Jays, just a few short days ago. After three consecutive losses to the Braves and some more hard feelings over the latest Jose Bautista bat flip, that goodwill feels pretty far removed.

And if as if we needed to add something else to the pile, Kevin Pillar made a very poor choice on Wednesday night, expressing his frustration with Jason Motte, and slashing at the classy image that he’s carved out for himself.

In case you missed it, Pillar struck out to end the 7th inning on a pitch that was bordering on a quick pitch. It was deemed to be legal, and Pillar really had nothing much he could say about it directly, especially given how the Blue Jays regularly employ this tactic. The problem was, Pillar chose to revert back to being a school yard hothead, forgetting the impact a single word can have on individuals, and in this case, his own career.

I will not excuse Pillar’s use of the homophobic “F” word, regardless of how much I like the player, and how many times I have misspoken in the heat of the moment.

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There is no room for that in baseball, professional sports, or anywhere anymore really. It’s 2017, so it’s too late to say “I didn’t mean it like that”, or “it just slipped out”. I’m almost certain Pillar didn’t mean to use the word literally, but that doesn’t make it any better.

The bottom line is, each player that steps on the diamond is paid handsomely for what they do, and part of their job is to be accountable for their actions on and off the field, including their words. In this way, Pillar will hopefully learn a valuable lesson after Thursday’s incident.

He did apologize after the game, calling the incident “immature” among other things, but his comments likely didn’t help his cause, at least not on Wednesday night.

"“It was immature, it was stupid, it was uncalled for. It’s part of the game; I’m a competitive guy and heat of the moment. Obviously I’m going to do whatever I’ve got to do to reach out and apologize and let (Motte) know he didn’t do anything wrong, it was all me.”"

For now, Pillar will have to await the decision of the MLB, as they are reportedly looking into the incident, which could lead to a short suspension for the Blue Jays’ best player in 2017.

Next: Blue Jays: Even Bautista knows it was too much

As much as I would hate to see him suspended for selfish reasons as a Blue Jays fan, I’m glad that baseball is taking this stance with these incidents, especially when they are caught on camera. These players need to remember that they are role models, and frankly, it’s not okay to model that kind of behaviour at any time, heat of the moment or not.