Credit: John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports
Remember Moneyball when the Jonah Hill character said to replace Jason Giambi with three players who have similar base percentages?
That’s what the Mets are doing … maybe.
After losing George Springer and signing outfielder Albert Almora Jr., the orange and blue have now added another weapon to the mix, which is Kevin Pillar in a one-year major league contract. Pillar spent his 2020 campaign with the Boston Red Sox and Colorado Rockies and was a star with the 2013-2018 Toronto Blue Jays.
For a team that needs more outside help, Pillar adds some depth to the bank. He is definitely not the same defensive phenomenon he was at the beginning of his career, but he is still useful in the outer corner positions, posting positive DRS numbers in both positions in 2020.
Pillar, who is generally not known for his strokes, performs especially well against the southpaw; his line of career statistics against left-handed pitchers is 0.286 / 0.320 / 0.464. In 2020 alone, Pillar accumulated 26 hits and five walked in just 82 plate appearances against left-handers.
It is not yet known who would be removed from the 40-man squad to make way for Pilar, but the most likely scenario would be José Martinez or Almora seeing some time in the minors.
