Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports
It took nearly 3,000 major league at-bats for Kevin Pillar to get beaned.
He’s trying to make sure that’s the only time it happens.
Pillar was drilled in the chin by a 97-mph fastball courtesy Dinelson Lamet in the first inning Friday, a direct shot — it did not go off his shoulder, as it originally appeared — that left him “sore” Saturday, he said. No bruise was visible — his beard helps — but he called his chin/cheek “a little swollen.” Still, he was in the lineup for the Giants-Padres game at Oracle Park.
“Definitely avoided something that could have been pretty serious,” said Pillar, whose days off have been scarce since Steven Duggar went down. “It wasn’t too bad in the moment. Moments like that, your body goes into shock a little bit. I’m just kind of wired — if I’m standing on my feet, I’m able to go.”
But it is possible a different-looking Pillar steps to the plate. He was planning to take swings in the cage with the newer-age, more-protective helmet that wraps around his chin. If it feels natural and comfortable, that will be his new helmet.
The timing for the plunking was prescient; Pillar said he’s talked to some players in “recent weeks” about the helmet that Giancarlo Stanton first began using.
“Felt like it was something I definitely wanted to try out in spring training next year to get comfortable with, and maybe that timeline gets sped up a little right now,” said Pillar, a seven-year pro. “Having that happen, in hindsight, if I had it on, it’s something that would’ve protected me.”
He was checked on by a team trainer and said he passed the concussion protocol. Pillar called himself a “gamer.”
“To me the biggest challenge was being able to step into the box against the same guy, and I was able to do that,” said Pillar, who finished 0-for-2 with a sacrifice fly.
