Kevin Pillar takes us inside the Blue Jays-Yankees series

00:00:03
Speaker 1: Blue Jay's Great Kevin Polar joining us right now on FT and you'll see him on some FT stuff coming soon again. Good to see you, dude. And before we get to anything else, there are people that are just going to watch this clip and they want your instant reaction to the offense of the outburst that you've seen. Man, what the heck's going on here? And I know we've seen a lot of this during the season, but are you surprised that they've put up more runs in the first two games of the playoffs for them than any team ever?

00:00:32
Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, surprised, a little bit surprised. But the atmosphere, I mean, it's hard to not be extra motivated playing in Toronto. I mean I can't even describe the scene on game one, the scene on game two, but they came out swinging it. You know, they're trying to make a statement and they made a statement.

00:00:50
Speaker 3: Hey KP, what was What was it like? I mean, you're talking about the atmosphere, and what I want to know is what was it like? Because if you watched that Vladimir Guerrero Grand Slam yesterday, it was almost like he knew what was happening. He took a two zero change up. It was like he was just sitting there waiting for that ninety eight in and he did not miss it. When he hit that ball in the I don't know if it was the second or third deck out there in left field. That place was as loud and as crazy as I've seen a baseball stadium in a long time.

00:01:17
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, it's probably the second loudest I've ever heard it aside from Jose Batista's you know, batflip game, but it was very similar. I mean, it was like this crazy build up. It was so loud. He took the pitch, you know, it was really loud, and then there's this moment where it just gets really silent. Right as the pitch is coming in, you hear the sound of the bat and then it just explodes. And then it went on forever and ever and ever, and it was one of the best scenes that I'd seen in baseball in a long time. That and you know what they did for trey Ya Savage when he came out of the dugout. Both curtain calls were just electric. I mean, the decibel levels were, you know, into the one tenth. It was just insane. And you know from first pitch, there was a little moment there when they got up a little bit and it turned into a little bit of a party there. You could tell people like, we're able to exhale and just kind of enjoy the game a little bit. Boujas did a great job of just trying to get some guys in the game that you know, maybe hadn't pitched in the bull in the playoffs yet, trying to keep guys fresh in the bullpen. The Yankees did a good job of getting a little bit of momentum maybe for game tomorrow, but ultimately it was just a dominating two days performance by the Blue Jays.

00:02:26
Speaker 4: What'd you say from Tredy Savage? Were you able to see like field level from him? Because from TV level it looks like it looks like a creative player.

00:02:38
Speaker 2: Dude, It's crazy. I mean, I didn't get a chance to go down there on field level. I was up in the prex at the press box. Eventually I went down to the sports Net booth, which is in left center field, right near where Gladdy hit his home run. They have some better TV set up there, but I needed to watch it from like a fans perspective at home, because I just couldn't make sense of how awful the swings were on all of it pitches. I've never seen a pitching performance like that, especially from a twenty two year old kid with three starts. And the bigger story going into it was what he said going into that start is he was built for this moment. And I'm thinking this could go one of two ways. Either this kid really knows he's built for the moment or he put his foot in his mouth. But after what I saw yesterday, it's got to be one of the best pitching performances I've ever ever seen. You know, live KP.

00:03:33
Speaker 1: I mean, you're super fresh out of the game. You were playing baseball earlier this season in the major leagues. How do you prepare for someone so unique like that? There was some news about how the Yankees loved the traject system, which many teams use to simulate pitches as a pitching machine. Right that simulates the arm angle and the pitch spin velocity, et cetera. They can't bring that on the road, and they didn't have time to prepare for that with you Savage as they went three games with Red Sox. Do you think that would have helped. Or is this dude just so nasty and so different that the first time you see him for an opposition it's really difficult.

00:04:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, no doubt in my mind it would have helped. But I mean, this was one of my talking points a pregame is you could only do so much to prepare for a guy. You have the traject, you have the spreadsheets, you have the video. I gave an example of Opening Day this year. I was facing Garrett Crochet. I was at home. I knew I was facing him for a whole week. I watched all the video, we had, all the meetings, I had all the information, I had the projects. Nothing prepared me for what I actually saw when I got in the box. And I was saying it was going to be a challenge for the Yankees hitters, at least the first time through the order. I felt like they were gonna be a little bit more passive. They needed to actually pick up that funky arm action, and they need to see some pitches off of him, try to pick up that release point. They could have had anything and everything. I don't think anything was going to prepare him for what they got. Yes, today, KP.

00:05:02
Speaker 3: Worrying about Trey's outage. Just it's so different. I said, It's kind of like remember Josh Colementer, I don't know if you played against him or FaceTime kind of threw that. He kind of, but he threw eighty five. This guy throws ninety five plus with a nasty split. Clementer was like, you know, kind of the high fastball before it was cool when he had a little change up, But this dude is legit ninety five plus with that split finger. I don't know that I've ever seen anybody, and I don't care what machine you have until you actually step in the box and see it. You saw the Yankees had no answer for especially his split fingers. It's probably the best split finger I've seen a guy throw in a long long time.

00:05:40
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, as you know, I mean I'm recent out the game, you're not that far removed. I mean, stuff is stuff. Everyone has great stuff. It's like what really separates guys at you know, at this level, you're splitting hairs when you do get a guy with the uniqueness of Trey Savage, the uniqueness of like a Garrett Crochet, that's what makes him super elite and Obviously, this kid has the intangibles too. He has the confidence, he has the belief in himself. He was able to kind of control his heartbeat. You know, we were sitting there was a big conversation, you know, locally here about when when John Schneider came out and announced him as a Game two starter, and you know, there were some people kind of you know, second questioning that, you know, he's twenty two years old, if he built for this moment three major league starts, and from a player's perspective, I kept trying to remind people they're not putting him in there because of his stuff. They know the type of human being, they know the type of competitor. There's a reason they brought him up earlier in this year. It was for this moment. They knew who they were getting when they drafted him, that he was built for moments like this, and he went out and proved it yesterday.

00:06:46
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00:07:08
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00:07:48
Speaker 4: The amount of runs that have been scored, I get it. Two teams that score a lot of runs. But seeing some of the balls that were flying out Ernie Clement front footing, one handing a ball, do you feel the ball is traveling different? And if they have to come back to Toronto and the roof is closed, does that change it? Or is there is it just the playoff adrenaline that's making some of these balls go out?

00:08:14
Speaker 2: Man, I mean the conspiracy theorist. I mean to say the balls are a little bit different too, But I mean the roof being opening was definitely a big factor. It was a conversation. It was something that, I mean, the weather could be any better here, so thankfully that they opened it up. But there was a back and forth between Major League Baseball and the Toronto Blue Jays, you know, kind of begging them for it to be open because the weather was so nice. But if you would have asked anyone who that potentially would have favored, people would have shit the Yankees. You know, that's a team that's kind of reliant on the home run, a little bit more slug a little bit more than the Blue Jays. But yeah, I mean the joke was with the Ernie Clement home run. I was like, if you only had to hit it in ninety three or ninety four, maybe I could have played a little bit longer to get one out. But it's the Blue Jays. Just I mean, I'm almost at a loss for words, you know, I think what the hitting coach is is and that's kind of I think the X factor kind of behind the closed doors. I haven't yet to had that conversation with him. I ran into him in the hallways, but I really kind of want to know, Like, you know, the culture has completely changed here. Guys had bought into kind of playing old school baseball, like being tough outs, being okay, you know. I think we always talk about trying to be so perfect in the batter's box, and it's so difficult to be perfect. I think what they've done a good job is, here are your strengths. If you're going to chase, chase in the area of those strengths, don't chase somewhere where you're not going to be able to like handle the ball or do some damage. But every guy that goes up to the play has a very distinct plan of passing it to the next guy, making it harder on the picture to get you out, and with some mistakes are made as you continue to just wear out pictures, mistakes are made. And the Blue Jays did a really good job of getting guys on base and making it really tough to pitch around. Those top four guys in their lineup are the ones that really slug in their lineup kind of like AJ mentioned, you know, that at bat goes completely different if there's a base open and you're facing facing Vladie there. But he got into a two oh count. He took that two oho change up, and he was looking for one pitch and he got that pitch and didn't miss it.

00:10:19
Speaker 5: KP.

00:10:20
Speaker 3: Hold up, did Crats just say that the Blue Jays are juicing the ball somehow or the Major League Baseball change because now I.

00:10:26
Speaker 5: Think, no, not you, not you, I said, Crats, Crats.

00:10:29
Speaker 3: I think Krats just accused the Blue Jays of not using the humidor or I don't know, maybe using cork bats. I'm not sure, Crats, is that what you said, because I swear you said, like if you could hit a ball ninety two or whatever it was that, uh the man what you could still play?

00:10:43
Speaker 2: Said, I would still be playing that I could get away with ninety three hit. But you know, you guys all played in the postseason. Liked adrenaline too, though adrenaline is a crazy thing, like you know, but you know, talking about that play too, where you know, the the margins in those games are so fine in the playoffs, and like the difference in Ernie Clement like having the ability to you know, feel like he can get the ball in the air to any part of the ballpark. Was really Aaron Judge kind of missed playing that ball down the line. Instead of it being a double, it's a triple. You know, those little you know things that happen in playoff games, you know ultimately changed, like the outcomes of games. You know, you get that runner at second base, maybe a guy like Ernie Clements asked to kind of bump there or have a good team at bat and move the ball the other way. The fact that there was a runner at third base there, you know he could be ultra aggressive on that curve ball and just knowing he had to get the ball up in the air. You know, that wasn't a swing where he was trying to hit a home run. He just did a really good job of staying through the baseball, getting the ball in the air, spun it the right way, and got rewarded with hitting home run. But maybe that's more about the roof being open and you know, the wind blowing a little bit. But just one through nine, they're just such a tough at bat.

00:11:58
Speaker 3: By the way, I tell you where the balls aren't and maybe they need to close the roofs in Seattle. I don't know if you saw the games out of here, but the first game, I think it was the JP Crawford hit wh like one fourteen with twenty eight degree launch angle in the in the outfielder caught it, not even on the warning track, So I don't know if it's Marine layer.

00:12:14
Speaker 5: Maybe they need to close the roof in Seattle because the ball ain't going nowhere in Seattle.

00:12:19
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was a It was a big discussion too, Like earlier when I was playing in Texas that early on. Historically that lade as a hitters ballpark, but guys were complaining about the same stuff. You know, guys are good at understanding like exit velocity and trajectory launch angle. You know, it should be a home run most of the time, and guys were not getting rewarded in Texas. And then we looked it up and you know, Texas was a top five worst place to hit, but number one in baseball with Seattle. So they need to figure out something there because over the recent history there's been a lot of players that have come in there as free agents and they have a really bad year so there's there's something with how big the stadium a marine layer, but that's a place that really needs to get rid of the humid ord reward guys for hitting the ball one fourteen. He should be rounding the bases celebrating with his teammates. Instead, it's just an f eate.

00:13:13
Speaker 4: What do you think the clubhouse feeling is about the comments that were made from both sides throughout the year? Michael Kay earlier saying the Blue Jays aren't a first place team, and more recently Buck Martinez is saying very good team because of X, Y and Z. What do you think the clubhouse feeling is on that? Because Aaron Boone commented on it, so it's clearly being heard.

00:13:37
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was more concerned about the recent comments that Buck Martinez made and motivating the Yankees. You know, thinking back to the year I was with Atlanta and we won that big game too, and things that come out about Orlando Arcia, you know, kind of poking fun at Bryce Harper. You know, it was it got blown up. It wasn't that big of a deal, but it became bulletin board material and the player Bryce Harper was and then the player he was after being that little extra motivated was really the biggest difference in the series, and I was very concerned for the Blue Jays and the Yankees using that as extra motivation. I think the other way around. I think the stuff that Michael kay had said was, you know, so far removed that you know, you could use it as motivation a little bit, But it wasn't you know, today's news. I thought today's news was going to really wake a sleeping giant. The fact that Aaron Boone commented on it meant that not only did he hear it, but his players had heard it. But you got to be careful in these situations. You don't want to give the other team extra motivation. But on that note, this is where I was kind of thinking last night, with everything that happened, I was in a very similar situation the Yankees were in. When I was with the Blue Jays here in two thousand, team we lost both games and ultimately we came back and won that series. I'm thinking how the media is playing a factor in this. When I was with Toronto, still the sense from the media was not that it was over by any means, but there was still kind of this motivational. They left this window open for us a little bit. I'm wondering what it's like being in the New York Yankees clubhouse yesterday after going down O two and just knowing how difficult the media can be in New York. If they're able to kind of come back from this, that's kind of the thing I'm going to look forward to getting to New York tomorrow, kind of listening and kind of navigating, you know what it said, what's kind of the feel in the Yankees clubhouse and if they're able to really come back from this.

00:15:46
Speaker 5: KP who are the best athletes on a baseball field.

00:15:52
Speaker 2: The shortstop and the center fielder typically.

00:15:55
Speaker 5: Okay, because I was gonna say catcher, because I saw.

00:15:58
Speaker 3: Two first pitches this weekend from the Blue Jays. One of them was money from a catcher in Russell Martin, and one of them from an outfielder couldn't make it that far. So I don't know what happened to your arm in the last you know, nine to ten months, but the fact that you can't throw a first pitch actually is kind of embarrassing for the foul Territory family because we've all done them and we've all thrown strikes, and then there's this.

00:16:22
Speaker 5: Like what happened?

00:16:26
Speaker 2: What happened? Was? I was, you know, let me tell you something. Let me tell you something. I'm gonna step back real quick, right. I just got done. I just got done playing. I'm walking around the stadium. Everyone's like, man, you look great. You could still play. And I just wanted to remind everyone there's a reason I got released, and there's a reason even though I look like I could play, I can't do it anymore. And I was just I was letting everyone know I was. I was. I was closing the door. I was. I was closing the earbook. I'm letting everyone know I don't got it anymore. I may look the part, but I can't play. So is it as embarrassing as it was? I'll tell you I've never been so damn nervous in my whole life. I'll be honest with you. I was. I was like I had known about it for a week and I was like, really excited to do it. I did the show, I watched Russ do it, and honestly, I was a little bit pissed that Russ just fired one in there like he had been playing his whole damn life like he had never stopped playing right. And then I'm down in there, they do this whole thing. I walk out and I mean, it was a top ten moment in my life going out there. But I get on the mound, my legs are shaken. The baseball feels like a balloon, like it's got no weight to it, and I'm like, if you know, maybe I can just float it in there. But damn, yeah, it was. It was a little embarrassing. It was a little embarrassing. I'm not gonna lie.

00:17:49
Speaker 1: Our playoff coverage for the next few weeks is all presented by Fox One shout out to them and the new app and streaming service where you can get yourself a seven day free trial at foxwe dot com. So, for example, if you're like, I don't have anything else but I want to watch the playoffs, then you can watch AJ and Adam and Adam do their game, and then eventually obviously the CS and the World Series as well. All you AJ, We're gonna watch you even if we can't.

00:18:20
Speaker 5: Right geot, we were in commercial. I was like, well, I didn't realize this was live. I know, Sorry, this is the commercial.

00:18:29
Speaker 3: You get MLB obviously in the playoffs, because Fox rules MLB playoffs. I think you get Big Noon, which is their big college football show.

00:18:37
Speaker 5: I don't know if you can get the NFL on there, but yeah you did.

00:18:40
Speaker 3: Oh well, then how do you not have Fox one? I have Fox one. I watch it all the time. I need to watch a game. People are complaining they couldn't find the game. If you have Fox one there it is boom, It's easy.

00:18:51
Speaker 4: I mean, it's all about how you start your day, and you clearly showed us just now. If you want to have success, you're not starting your day off well, make your bed one time. This isn't We're not We're not on the MLB network here. This is foul territory. Get your bed in order as soon as you wake up. It looks trash.

00:19:08
Speaker 5: That is trash.

00:19:10
Speaker 4: And then you want to throw on a first pitch strike.

00:19:11
Speaker 2: All right, rookie, Hey, did you also when you threw out your first pitch were you were in full you were in full tucks, full full suit attire.

00:19:19
Speaker 4: I was gonna say, you're it looked like a European cut on your tucks because fight.

00:19:24
Speaker 2: It was tight. It was tight. You know that. The joke I kept telling everyone is, you know, I never got my signing day, I never got draft day, So like wearing the suit with the jersey over is like, yeah, I finally made it. I finally made it. That's what it That's what it looks like. But yeah, that thing was tight. I'm not gonna lie those joggers. That's a tailored suit, my friend.

00:19:46
Speaker 4: Wow, so embarrassed.

00:19:51
Speaker 5: People will have a talk about suits on the air, and well.

00:19:55
Speaker 2: I can do another questions. Hey, I have a question for you, And obviously we're in much different positions in terms of media, but I can't go I can't find it within myself to go inside the clubhouse. How long did that take you to kind of feel and your responsibility is a little bit different than mine, but you know, I feel like I can't cross that line yet. How long does it take you to feel like you should go in there? You know you feel comfortable going in there.

00:20:24
Speaker 3: I listen, I've been doing this for a long even Listen, I was doing this when I was playing KP and twenty eleven was the first time I did this, and it was we're in the postseason and we're in the Tigers. We're in the playoffs and I'm doing the Tigers, and I was in the Al Central. I'm going in there having meetings with Jim Leland, who manages the Tigers, and I'm playing against the nineteen times a year, and he's given me secrets and I look at him. I go, hey, hey, humperting his nickname, like hey, huh, you know that I still play right, and goes, yeah, You're too stupid to remember anything I say anyway, so don't worry about it, right, And then I walk in there and I'm justin Verlander and Migi Cabrera, all these guys who I just played twenty times a year before, and they were looking at me. And to this day, I tell people this all the time. It's still awkward as hell for me to walk into the clubhouse. Not because I don't know the guys, because because of Foul Territory, I'm very fortunate. I get to know a lot of these guys and they know me from Foul Territory and from Fox.

00:21:12
Speaker 5: But it's still awkward. Like I'm like, I'm.

00:21:15
Speaker 3: In here and I have to do it, but I also am like, can we get out of here? I just need to talk to one person. It's like I want to just get out.

00:21:21
Speaker 2: I want to get out because I know I'm also like so close to removed that like, I know a lot of these guys, like I played with a lot of these guys, And my big thing is one, I don't really have to be in there for what I'm doing. It would be like nice just for me to kind of like learn some stuff as I maybe continue to progress in this industry. But I also don't want someone to feel obligated to like come over and say hi because I was in their position and I was still playing, and there was someone part of the media that was right out of the game that I knew you kind of feel obligated to least go say hi, see how they're doing and stuff. You know. So I part of me wants to kind of just do go into the Yankee side because I've never been in there, and I kind of just maybe want to get kind of a you know, for what it what it looks like and what it kind of feels like to kind of help me with what I'm supposed to be kind of reporting on. But it's been hard for me to kind of cross that line.

00:22:20
Speaker 5: Listen, yesterday. I'll use this.

00:22:21
Speaker 3: I told this on the Area yesterday. We're school Ball is pitching, and obviously I know school but we've had him on the show. I've talked to him a million times.

00:22:27
Speaker 5: He's great. He's pitching.

00:22:28
Speaker 3: Yesterday, I'm in the Tiger's clubhouse and he's walking right at me, and I make I try to go up to guys and say hi, just say hi, good luck, have a great show, you know, great game. Bo Scooba walks up to me and he's you know, and I'm like, some guys.

00:22:42
Speaker 2: Starting pictures are so like, I can't talk to you.

00:22:44
Speaker 3: So he walks up to me and he smiles and goes hey and sticks out his fist and gives me a fist bump, and I'm like, hey, have a great game. And then I was like, because I don't want to know, he's you know. Starting Pitchers don't lock their eyes, so some guys make it easy, some guys don't. But just be yourself, man, like, enjoy it and go in the Yankees clubhouse because it's.

00:22:58
Speaker 5: Kind of cool. Actually, and their crats will, so it's.

00:23:00
Speaker 2: Cool, crats. Is it worth seeing?

00:23:04
Speaker 4: It's worth seeing. It's one of the best ones for sure. They did it. They did it very pro style. You'll see that.

00:23:12
Speaker 2: That might be the easier start of like a place that I didn't play. I know guys there, but like it's still kind of personal, like going into like the Blue Jays clubhouse. I know a lot of the staff, the players, obviously a lot of turnover. But maybe that would be a good place to start tomorrow.

00:23:29
Speaker 1: Yeah, it can be scary, but yeah, once you jump in there, at least, yeah, can sit on the cat.

00:23:40
Speaker 2: He would you would? You would you advise like the best way walk in and just go straight to the refrigerator pull out like a gatorade or a.

00:23:46
Speaker 3: Water and then and then go sit and judge didn't judge, didn't judge your feet.

00:23:53
Speaker 5: Up and then like Jazz.

00:24:00
Speaker 2: When he comes when he comes back from the cage, I'm just sitting in his chair, feet up. Yeah, he would love that, and then immediately ask him for a sign bats Jersey.

00:24:14
Speaker 1: J When you're done, yeah, go up to each starting pitcher and just be like, what's up?

00:24:19
Speaker 2: Just wanted to say, hellow go up to who's starting tomorrow and just yeah.

00:24:26
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, I'll love that.

00:24:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, just be like, oh I love following your your wife on Twitter. She always like posts about your starts, like what do you think she's gonna stay after this one?

00:24:35
Speaker 5: Today?

00:24:36
Speaker 1: All right, we're off the rails. We gotta go because we gotta get ready for next guests. But we're gonna have KP later, so we'll see on the post game show. We're going to recap Brewis Cubs.

00:24:44
Speaker 2: Who's on post game?

00:24:46
Speaker 1: You me and Krats. AJ has got to get beauty rest for his early game the next day, but you, me and Krats will be on. We're gonna do Brewers Cubs and we'll still obviously recap also Philly Dodgers from before that. We'll do it all after Brewers Cubs later tonight live on YouTube. KP, good stuff man, great to have you on. We'll see you later.

00:25:03
Speaker 2: I'm gonna get my bed made before.

00:25:05
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, crafts is very strict. One thing to do in eight hours from now.

00:25:09
Speaker 5: Thanks KP.

00:25:10
Speaker 2: See you soon, you guys,