Ex-Blue Jays player Kevin Pillar joins Sportsnet broadcast team
If Toronto Blue Jays fans tune in to check out tonight’s coverage of the World Series on Sportsnet, they’ll likely see a familiar face.
With uncertainty around whether he’ll ever play another game in the major league, Kevin Pillar has at least found a temporary home on his first MLB team’s home broadcast network.
The former Blue Jays outfielder is joining MLB Central for World Series coverage, starting tonight with Game 3 of the matchup between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees, the network announced in a post on X today.
Pillar hit .260 with 641 hits, 55 homers, 231 RBIs and 303 runs scored in 695 games for the Blue Jays in his career, which spanned from 2013 to 2018 before he was traded to the San Francisco Giants at the beginning of the 2019 season. He’s now spent time with nine different MLB organizations, most recently having played for the Los Angeles Angels to close out this season.
Having played in the MLB for 12 years, Pillar admitted last month that he could be done playing by next spring training if he hasn’t found a contract.
“I’m definitely prepared for it to be the end,” Pillar said via the MLBPA’s Jerry Crasnick. “Coming out and saying that was kind of my way to remind myself to enjoy what could be my last year… If an opportunity [to play] presents itself sooner rather than later, that’s a decision you’re going to have to make. But I won’t go until February.”
Whether it’s working for Sportsnet or elsewhere, Pillar seems willing to try new things come retirement.
“Baseball has been my life since I was four years old,” Pillar added to Crasnick. “Really, since I was in college, it’s been my full-time obsession and year-round job. Once I can kind of push that aside and focus on other things, I’m excited to see how that turns out.”
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