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In the recent past, the Toronto Blue Jays have placed such a massive emphasis on their defensive prowess, to the point that they're willing to sacrifice some offensive production for runs saved on the field.
One of the earliest pioneers of this style of play came before the Blue Jays even implemented this new way of thinking. During the 2024 regular season, 12-year veteran (and seven-year Blue Jay) Kevin Pillar announced that he was "likely going to retire" at the end of the season. This announcement came on the heels of him reaching 10 years of MLB service time, which is a feat only the grittiest of players can reach in today's game.
It seems that Pillar, appropriately nicknamed "Superman" by followers of the Blue Jays back in his heyday, has changed his mind. The long-time outfielder made an appearance on MLB Network's Hot Stove recently and said he's preparing for another season.
"I've just had some time to reflect...I still enjoy doing it. I'm pretty sure I still want to play."
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) December 2, 2024
Kevin Pillar shares he is keeping the door open to play next season and will be in Dallas for the Winter Meetings. pic.twitter.com/OwJVaMVAPK
Blue Jays fan favorite Kevin Pillar changes his mind on 2025 retirement
Throughout his career, Pillar's calling card has obviously been his defense. His range has been outstanding in some years and not-so-great in others, but he's got a strong throwing arm that can still play in right field on a semi-regular basis.
For a stretch during this past season, he was changing the narrative on that, as he put together an incredible month of May. In 19 games, Pillar hit five home runs and drove in a whopping 21 runs. He also hit .409 and posted an otherworldly 1.147 OPS during that time. His numbers regressed quite a bit, especially in the final months of the season, but for a while, he was arguably one of the best hitters in the game.
Even still, the 35-year-old finished his season with just a .229 batting average and .667 OPS across 100 games split between the White Sox and Angels. He's no longer the starting-caliber outfielder he once was, but most teams could do much worse than signing a slick fielder who can still put up an 88 OPS+.
At this point in his career, Pillar is nothing more than a defense-first backup who could fill a bench role on a non-competitive team. He seems to still have the competitive fire under him, so now that he's expressed an interest in one more season, it's likely he'll snag a contract one final time.