The Major League Baseball season hasn’t truly begun until Kevin Pillar makes a play that leaves us shaking our heads in disbelief.
The Toronto Blue Jays center fielder has made some pretty spectacular catches in his career, but he might have outdone himself Monday night against the Cleveland Indians. In the top of the sixth inning with two runners on and two outs, Indians batter Jose Ramirez laced a deep line drive that looked like it might drive in two runs.
Enter Pillar, aka “Superman.”
.@KPILLAR4 specializes in the ridiculous. pic.twitter.com/6wanInxev8
— MLB (@MLB) May 9, 2017
Pillar completely sold out for this ball, leaping into the air despite being just feet from the Rogers Centre wall to make the diving catch.
Even Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman couldn’t believe it.
Nothing is impossible for @KPILLAR4! #WOW pic.twitter.com/M3ZDIGkVVT
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) May 9, 2017
Amazingly enough, Pillar never has won a Gold Glove award, as Tampa Bay Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier has beaten him out the last two years. But after Toronto’s 4-2 win, Stroman wanted something done about that.
https://twitter.com/ArdenZwelling/status/861782429341818880
Gold. @KPILLAR4 https://t.co/a5ftbJWA0N
— Marcus Stroman (@STR0) May 9, 2017
No matter how you slice it, this is a serious candidate for catch of the year and arguably the best catch of Pillar’s career — which is saying something.