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Former Toronto Blue Jays fan fave announces his retirement after short MLB comeback

Adam Laskaris
Adam Laskaris
|
Jul 2 2025, 7:15 pm
Former Toronto Blue Jays fan fave announces his retirement after short MLB comeback
Kim Klement/Imagn Images

Another former Toronto Blue Jays star is calling it a career.

A little over a week after former Jays utility man Whit Merrifield wrapped up his MLB career, ex-Toronto outfielder Kevin Pillar announced today on the Foul Territory podcast that he’s done after 13 major league seasons.

Pillar had planned to have the 2024 season be his last, before cracking the Texas Rangers roster out of spring training.

“I guess I can officially say that I’m done playing,” Pillar shared. “I wanted to be 100 per cent sure, because of things I went through. Last year, I kind of said it was gonna be my last year, and I got into the off-season, and my mindset kind of changed.”

Pillar had a .209 batting average with nine hits, an RBI and six runs scored in 20 games this season. He was designated for assignment by the Rangers on May 25 and was unable to find another spot in the MLB.

“I talked to a lot of guys that are no longer playing anymore, and they said, you know, you it’s near impossible to kind of retire and then come back, right? So I wanted to make sure that I was really done playing. And it started kind of eating at me a little bit,” he said.

Pillar spent parts of seven seasons with the Blue Jays from 2013-2019, during which time he hit .260 with 55 home runs and 231 RBIs. However, his best asset was his defence, as he became well-known for putting his body on the line to make some ridiculous catches over those seven years.

“[If I retired last year], I might have some regrets, and I’m very thankful that I went back and went into spring training, and, you know, got a chance to play for the Rangers. And you know, it was unfortunate that my season was cut short,” he added.

A true journeyman, Pillar played for nine different franchises after leaving the Blue Jays.

“I took the failure in the game way harder than I enjoyed the success, and I don’t have to deal with the failure anymore,” Pillar said. “I’m pretty happy. I wake up every morning excited to be dad and just kind of see what the day brings.”

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