Baltimore Orioles: Adam Jones Among Strong Center Fielders in AL East
By Nate Wardle
3. Toronto Blue Jays – Kevin Pillar, Melvin Upton
Preseason prediction, 2nd – Kevin Pillar, Dalton Pompey, Ezequiel Carrera, Junior Lake
I said in my preseason predictions that Pillar was not far behind Adam Jones. And he still isn’t. In fact, there is very little separation among all five of these guys in 2016. Pillar hit .266/.303/.376 with 7 HRs, 35 2Bs, 53 RBIs, 59 R and 14 stolen bases for the Blue Jays. He played a total of 146 games, starting 143 of them, all in center field. Pillar’s oWAR was 1.1, and his combined WAR was 3.4.
The difference this year for Pillar came defensively. His dWAR was 2.6, which is excellent. But, his range was below league average, and he made six errors in center field, which is a lot (and fourth most in the AL). His zone runs above average number was low compared to his 2015 campaign. For a player who burst onto the scene both with his speed and defense in 2015, he was not in the top 5 in any categories of primary importance in 2016.
And, with Upton as the backup, that is not helping any, as Upton also hit below .200 as a backup. I’m sensing a theme here. Well, the next two guys hardly ever came off the field, with no one else starting 10 or more games at the CF position on their teams.