SEATTLE – Kevin Pillar was a mess the day after he sprained his right sternoclavicular joint while rolling out of a spectacular diving catch at Fenway Park.
The Toronto Blue Jays centre-fielder felt like he’d been in a car accident, his body sore all over, his right arm in a sling to keep the affected area immobilized. He was lucky because he had sprained the joint forward, where all it could do was damage ligaments, rather than backwards, where vital organs could have been damaged and his life could have been put in danger.
Still, he was in “pretty bad shape,” when the team broke for the all-star break in Boston and he was cleared to go on a planned break in the Muskoka region, facing a timeline to return of four to six weeks. The time off did him lots of good.
“I stayed immobilized and tried not to do much, let that area calm down and a couple days into the break I was getting into the pool, moving around, and I feel like that loosened up my body a little bit,” said Pillar. “When I came back, it was a night and day difference.”
The rapid progress only accelerated from there, culminating in an activation off the disabled list Friday for the Blue Jays’ 7-2 win over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night, a mere 20 days after he was injured. Pillar reached on an error in his first at-bat back on a ball that could easily have been scored a hit and added a sacrifice fly in the ninth to go along with three putouts in centre field.
Not a bad way to get back at it, especially considering how bad things could have been.
“When it happened, I didn’t know how serious it was or how serious it could be,” said Pillar, who was accompanied to the hospital with head trainer Nikki Huffman. “From her initial evaluation, I wanted to know the worst-case scenario and the best-case scenario. As an athlete, as a competitor, I wanted to know when I could be back on the field, what to expect.
“Fortunately, I got the best case scenario. I don’t know how or why. Maybe I’ve got good genetics. Maybe I’ve got good parents. Maybe I really am Superman. Once I was able to get the swelling out and some of the discomfort, I was able to move through a little pain.”
Pillar picked up the pace of his return this week in Oakland when he hit on the field, shagged fly balls and worked on his throwing. He made enough progress that the Blue Jays felt he’d be fine without a rehab assignment before returning, a somewhat unusual course of action.
A key indicator for him was the way he felt waking up after each workout, determining how his body was reacting to the plan.
The plan has worked to perfection. After feeling like he was in a car crash a day after the injury, Pillar is excited to be back on the field — especially in Seattle. Blue Jays fans from Western Canada are once again showing how the team has a wide cross-country reach.
“Once I left the hospital in Boston and got the results from there, I scheduled this series as a possible return date.” Pillar said. “I love playing here. As I said from the very beginning, I wanted to do this the right way. I didn’t want to just go out there logging innings just to play in games. I’ve done that before when the circumstances were different, but I wanted to make sure I was healthy before I came back and be the best version of myself and things progressed quicker than we anticipated.”
[relatedlinks]
