![\"36974_135797369779429_6302077_n\"](\"http:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/wisconsin-woodchucks\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2016\/04\/36974_135797369779429_6302077_n-e1460123729131.jpg\")
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Twenty-seven-year-old, Kevin Pillar, played for the Wisconsin Woodchucks as an outfielder in 2010.\u00a0 He is the 109th<\/sup>\u00a0former Northwoods League player to debut in MLB.\u00a0 Pillar showed glimpses of his talent during his time with the Woodchucks, but more importantly he showcased his incredible drive to succeed.\u00a0 Arriving in Wausau as a relatively unknown and overlooked player, Pillar demonstrated that he was different by running into walls and diving to catch balls. Ryan Treu, Woodchucks President, remembers Kevin Pillar as a player that “didn\u2019t know he was playing summer ball.\u201d\u00a0 In summer ball, players are commonly unwilling to take any chance that would risk injury.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Kevi <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nothing has ever come easy for Kevin Pillar.\u00a0 On draft day in 2011, Pillar started watching the draft in the first round with friends anxiously anticipating hearing his name called.\u00a0 Two days later, on the morning of the third day, he was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 32nd<\/sup>\u00a0round making him the 979th<\/sup>\u00a0player drafted.\u00a0 Pillar\u2019s signing bonus of $1,000 was so small he needed to borrow money from his mother to buy a new iPhone.\u00a0 Toronto\u2019s GM Alex Anthopoulos admits that even the Blue Jays made a mistake as Pillar was the first player out of Toronto\u2019s 2011 draft to make it to the Major Leagues.\u00a0 Pillar made his Major League debut in 2013.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n During Pillar\u2019s first two seasons in Toronto there were a few positive moments, including a highlight reel catch\u00a0on his first night in the majors and a walk off single that beat Minnesota.\u00a0 However, Pillar could never crack the starting lineup.\u00a0 Then, on June 24th<\/sup>, he was sent back down to the minors for throwing a bat when he was pinch hit for.\u00a0 The embarrassment of being sent back down to the minors forced Pillar to reexamine his approach.\u00a0 When he came back to the majors he had a new attitude and batting stance.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n In 2019 Kevin was traded to the San Francisco Giants. While he was only a Giant for one season, during that season he would hit his first grand slam on April 8th, hit a career-high 5 hits against the Diamondbacks in August, and go on to win the Willie Mac Award, and even earn an MVP vote.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Since 2019 Kevin has played for the Red Sox, Rockies, Mets, and Dodgers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Twenty-seven-year-old, Kevin Pillar, played for the Wisconsin Woodchucks as an outfielder in 2010.\u00a0 He is the 109th\u00a0former Northwoods League […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":16079,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,1,28,1509],"tags":[178,58,48,282,742,359,59,49,313,67,134,68,50,55],"class_list":["post-16078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-team-news","category-uncategorized","category-update-ticker","category-woodchucks-legends","tag-all-star","tag-athletic-park","tag-baseball","tag-central-wisconsin","tag-constructing-a-roster","tag-kalamazoo-growlers","tag-mlb","tag-northwoods-league","tag-roster","tag-wausau","tag-wausau-woodchucks","tag-wisconsin","tag-wisconsin-woodchucks","tag-woodchucks"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Kevin](\"http:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/wisconsin-woodchucks\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2016\/04\/Kevin-Pillar7-e1460122444177.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
n P![\"Kevin](\"http:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/wisconsin-woodchucks\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2016\/04\/Kevin-Pillar4.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
illar was a key player on a very good Woodchucks team in 2010.\u00a0 He finished the summer with 79 hits and 24 stolen bases, which placed him in the top 10 category for the Northwoods League.\u00a0 But mostly Kevin left an imprint with his defense providing several gems that still have fans talking today.\u00a0 The team qualified for the Northwoods League playoffs, but lost to the eventual champion, Eau Claire, in the semi-finals.\u00a0 Pillar followed his strong Woodchuck season with a 54 game hitting streak at Division II California State University,\u00a0Dominguez Hills.<\/p>\n![\"Kevin](\"http:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/wisconsin-woodchucks\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2016\/04\/Kevin-Pillar6-e1460122861771.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\n![\"Kevin](\"http:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/wisconsin-woodchucks\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2016\/04\/Kevin-Pillar5-e1460122962273.jpg\")
Inserted into the lineup in 2015 because of a knee injury to starting outfielder Michael Saunders, Pillar never looked back.\u00a0 Again, he made several ESPN worth fielding plays including robbing Tim Beckham of a home run on April 15th<\/sup>.\u00a0 He finished the season hitting .278 with 12 home runs, 56 RBIs, 25 stolen bases and 76 runs.\u00a0 Pillar was named the Wilson defensive player of the year for center fielders.\u00a0 The Toronto Blue Jays finished first in the American League East and played well in the post season before bowing out to eventual champion Kansas City in game six.<\/p>\n