Award-winning baseball outfielder Kevin “Superman” Pillar has established himself as one of the game’s best all-rounders, being named Best Hitter for Average, Defensive Player of the Year, and Best Centre-Field Player at various points during his career. Currently a free agent, he spent the first six years of his professional career with MLB club the Toronto Blue Jays. He has also turned out for other major teams, including the Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants, and Colorado Rockies. In 2018, he was part of the MLB All-Star team that took part in the MLB Japan All-Star series.
Pillar hails from West Hills, Los Angeles. He excelled in various sports at high school, including basketball and football, but he truly began making his name in the former during his time at California State University. During his four-year collegiate career for the university’s Toros team, he set a school-record 54-game hitting streak, won various awards and All-American honourable mentions, and given three All-CCAA honours in as many years. In 2011, he was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 32nd round of the MLB draft — although the club’s manager later admitted they should have picked such a talented player sooner — and spent the next two years completing his formative career in the American minor league.
Pillar made his MLB debut for the Blue Jays in 2013 and became an established first-team player in 2015, becoming a Golden Glove Award finalist and being named as the Wilson Defensive Player of the Year. By the time he left the Blue Jays in 2019, he had the eighth-highest stolen base percentage in the club’s history.