Kevin Pillar will always say what’s on his mind, rarely holding back in interviews. That’s why the centre-fielder’s quotes can potentially offer a glimpse into the Toronto Blue Jays‘ psyche.
Pillar joined The Starting Lineup on Tuesday morning and if he’s to be believed, the clubhouse’s confidence is soaring after two consecutive American League Championship Series appearances.
“I don’t think we label ourselves ‘World Series or bust’ but that’s definitely the goal,” Pillar said. “We know the blueprint of how to get there. We just need to improve on a couple things, a couple areas.”
Toronto lost to the Kansas City Royals in the 2015 post-season and the Cleveland Indians the following year. Both instances had the Blue Jays so close to the Fall Classic, they could smell it.
“We’ve set the bar high for ourselves in here,” said Pillar, who was a key cog on both Toronto teams. “I think two years ago we always talked about [the] World Series. But I don’t think you understand what it takes to get there or to get to the post-season until you do it. And for us to be able to do it in back-to-back years in two different types of ways, we understand what it takes to get there.
“We understand how to win in the post-season, but we just haven’t been able to win a couple big games that we really needed to, to get to the World Series.”
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