Batter's Box Interactive Magazine: Kevin Pillar

Kevin Pillar was drafted in the 32nd round of 2011 draft. He was the 979th player taken.

Obviously, he was never, never supposed to even sniff the major leagues. All 30 teams had said so, over and over. He had a chance to be organizational filler. He got $1,000 as a signing bonus.

It's been eight years, and of the 978 players taken ahead of Pillar, exactly six have accumulated more WAR at the major league level: Gerrit Cole, Anthony Rendon, Francisco Lindor, George Springer (all 1st round picks), Mookie Betts (5th round), and Kyle Hendricks (8th round).

The first mention I can find of him here on Da Box came not on Draft Day, but in October 2011, when the prospects were being reviewed. Pillar wasn't one of the Top 30. He wasn't one of the prospects to watch. He didn't even get a single vote as a prospect to watch, but Thomas mentioned Pillar as someone worth paying attention to anyway (in the same breath as Dalton Pompey and Danny Farquhar, who didn't get any votes either. Thomas, did you buy any lottery tickets that week? I mean, geez - after the Top 30, after another 6 guys worth watching, after another 8 guys who got votes from someone - you just drop a few names and three of them end up in the Show?)

Kevin Pillar

Tuesday, April 02 2019 @ 03:51 PM EDT