Los Angeles Angels outfielder Kevin Pillar has been on a resurgence since joining the Angels at the end of April. Pillar struggled early in the season while playing for the Chicago White Sox, but signed with the Angels after star player Mike Trout was injured and has thrived ever since.
Pillar began the year with the White Sox batting .160/.290/.360 with one home run and four RBIs, but was drafted and released. He turned down the opportunity, choosing to become a free agent and joining the Angels.
Since joining the Angels, Pillar is batting .389/.429/.667 with five home runs and 21 RBIs in just four games. That’s on pace to put him close to a career-best batting average, but the only time Pillar has batted over .300 in his career came in a pandemic-shortened season with the Colorado Rockies. Pillar has never batted above .400 with an on-base percentage or .500 with a slugging percentage.
Pillar believes working with a sports psychologist helped him get back on track, and one piece of advice seems to have stuck with him:
“He told me some very profound things,” Pillar said of the psychologist, via reporter Sam Blum of The Athletic. “Not that profound, but the way he put it. He talked about everything. About my offseason. I put all of this time, effort, money, time away from my family into trying to play baseball this year. That was the goal, and that goal hasn’t changed. I put all my eggs in one basket.”
“He said, ‘Finish the race.’ It was a very simple message. I got off the phone with him, went home and told my wife and kids, ‘Hey, I’m going to finish this race.'”
The 35-year-old Trout is “finishing the race” strong for the Angels so far. He’s been with the Angels for just over a month now, but he’s on track to have the best year of his career at an unexpected time. Even if Trout returns, it will be hard for the Angels to get rid of this type of pillar anytime soon.
