It was reasonable for Kevin Pillar to think he would never see Sahlen Field again unless he was thrust into an injury rehab assignment someday.
But the odd circumstances of 2020 put the veteran Boston Red Sox outfielder back in Buffalo this week – and gave him pause to reflect on the building blocks of his big-league career.
It was in Buffalo where the former 32nd-round pick first got to Triple-A in 2013 and realized how close he was to Toronto, a call that came a month later.
And in the summer of 2014, Buffalo was connected to his best moments and his worst on Pillar's road to becoming "Superman" in center field of Rogers Centre for the Blue Jays' back-to-back playoff teams of 2015 and 2016.
Pillar was the Bisons' most valuable player in '14 and the numbers of that year – .323-10-59 with 27 stolen bases in 100 games for the Herd – tell one story. The events of that summer tell another.
Pillar started the year in Buffalo and was called up on May 13. He was sent back June 25 and called back to Toronto on Aug. 26. Oh, how the transaction list omits the details.
He thought he was set in Toronto but manager John Gibbons, still not sure of what he had, pinch-hit for Pillar with the bases loaded of a game against the Yankees. Pillar, then 24, had a teenage tantrum in the dugout that included a bat toss. The next day, Gibbons took a stand and sent Pillar back down the QEW to Buffalo. Lots of folks wondered if it was a one-way ticket.
"Honestly the day I left Toronto to come back to Buffalo when that happened, in the back of my mind I felt like it was my last time ever playing in the Rogers Centre as a home player, as a Toronto Blue Jay," Pillar admitted on a Zoom call prior to Wednesday's 9-1 Toronto victory. "It was definitely a difficult time. I quickly turned my self-pity party into a chip on my shoulder, motivation. I went out and took the mindset I was auditioning for 29 other teams."
Pillar said he felt the punishment didn't fit the crime but he didn't sulk. He was easily the Bisons' best player that summer, a standout at the plate and a breakthrough star in the outfield.
"I really believe that's where my career took off," Pillar said. "I became a really good baseball player during that period in 2014 when I was sent back to Buffalo. Found a lot of confidence in myself, found a lot of success. I think ultimately that's what has allowed me to perform and stay in the big leagues all this time later."
When Pillar got back to Toronto, he had a heart-to-heart with Gibbons, who was duly impressed at the way the kid had gone about his duties with the Herd. The conversation carried through their next four seasons together and they remain close.
"I could have had my 'aha' moment where I proved I belong," Pillar said. "He acknowledged that when I came back and also what I could have done differently."
Pillar became one of the most popular players in Toronto before he was traded to San Francisco last year, where he finished with career highs in home runs (21) and RBIs (87). He's batting .257 this year for the Red Sox, doing solid work in right field with Jackie Bradley Jr. manning center most of the time. But he seems like a prime candidate to get moved again by Monday's trade deadline.
"It may make sense for me to be traded but I've told them I've enjoyed everything about this season despite the lack of success," Pillar said of playing for a pitching-thin Boston team that entered the game 10-20. "I've enjoyed the challenges that have come. I've been able to take on a leadership role and help these guys through a tough time."
Pillar was 0 for 5 for the Sox here in Tuesday's 9-7 win and went 0 for 3 Wednesday. He will be the only former Bisons MVP among visiting teams this season, thus taking residence in that same first-base dugout he was a key part of in 2013 and 2014.
"It was definitely a surreal thing, kind of going back to memory lane," he said. "I have a lot of great memories personally playing here, a lot of success in this stadium. It was also my last stop before I went to the big leagues.
"It's hardly recognizable what they were able to do with this stadium and the facilities around here. Kudos to the Blue Jays and their organization for really turning this stadium – which was already a pretty nice stadium – into definitely a first-class major-league stadium."
