Angels’ Kevin Pillar brings value on and off the field – Daily News

PITTSBURGH — Kevin Pillar said his two-homer game Tuesday was the moment when he finally felt like he was officially “an Angel.”

To manager Ron Washington, though, Pillar has been contributing since the day he walked in the door barely over a week ago, even when he wasn’t playing.

“Since he’s been here, he’s been doing a lot of talking with our young kids, something we didn’t have,” Washington said. “He’s talking baseball, he’s talking situations. He’s talking about mistakes. What you should do in certain situations, how you handle this. That’s what veterans do. We were lacking that. Now we’ve got a veteran presence here.”

Washington has always maintained that Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon also provide that leadership, but neither has been with the team on this trip because they are injured.

Pillar, 35, has played parts of 12 years in the majors. Among the currently active position players, the other most experienced players are infielders Ehire Adrianza and Brandon Drury. The Angels signed Pillar hours after learning Trout would be out with a torn meniscus.

“Pillar has had his career,” Washington said. “So what he wants to do now is make a difference by passing on his wisdom and knowledge. And that’s what veterans do. And these kids are gravitating toward him. He is a good find for us to bring here, because he doesn’t have an ego to the point where he wants to be on the field. Yes, he wants to be on the field because he’s a pro. But he understands what his role is here. And part of his role is to give. And he’s been giving since the day he arrived here and that’s going to be very beneficial to our young guys.”

On Tuesday, Pillar finally got a chance to make a contribution on the field, too. He hit a three-run homer that sparked the Angels to a nine-run, 15-hit outburst. He finished with a career-high six RBIs.

Pillar said Wednesday that Angels hitting coaches Johnny Washington and Tim Laker helped him make some adjustments that proved beneficial. Pillar had a history with both coaches, having worked in various hitting facilities in Southern California with each of them even before he was drafted.

“The conversations are easy when you have some familiarity,” said Pillar said, a product of Chaminade High and Cal State Dominguez Hills.

Essentially, Pillar said he is trying to attack the ball so he can get out front and pull it. Many hitters are better when they’re using the whole field, but Pillar said it’s no secret that he’s at his best when he’s pulling line drives to left field.

“The majority of my damage is going to come to from center field over the left field side, so why would I necessarily go up there and try to drive the ball to the opposite field?” Pillar said. “That’s not really my strength. Those are some of the conversations we had, just understanding what my strengths are and getting back to them. Trying to be as consistent as possible and when in doubt, err on the side of being aggressive as opposed to passive.”

WORK IN PROGRESS

Utility man Cole Tucker misplayed two ground balls at third base Tuesday. One was ruled a hit and the other was an error.

Washington, known for his work with infielders, said that both mistakes were the result of Tucker’s poor technique.

Washington has been drilling all the Angels infielders on fundamentals since the start of spring training, but Tucker didn’t even join the organization until mid April. He had been in Triple-A until last week.

“I think he might be about February 28 right now,” Washington said, referring to where Tucker is in the progression of the work the other infielders started in Arizona.

They are still making such fundamental changes as correcting the way Tucker puts his hand in his glove. Washington said players today don’t put their hand deep enough into the glove.

“We’re trying to break his habits,” Washington said. “He’s going to catch up.”

NOTES

In contrast to Pillar’s approach, Logan O’Hoppe needs to focus on hitting the ball to right field, Washington said. O’Hoppe had been in a slump before collecting four hits Tuesday. Two of the hits were to right field. “When he was going through his little slump, he was trying to yank everything,” Washington said. “When he’s been getting his base hits, it’s been to right field.” …