Kevin Pillar has been the epitome of what fans think of when they think of NCAA Div. II Baseball: hard-nosed, a battler, and someone trying to seize their opportunity. When that moment presented itself to Kevin Pillar in the form of being drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays, he ran with it to build an 11-year MLB career, which is still going. Pillar has become a household name across the baseball world, but he can look back at Cal State Dominguez Hills for giving him that opportunity.
Pillar played four seasons in Carson, setting the school record with a .367 career batting average. However, his name would stretch beyond the Toros’ record books and into NCAA lore during his junior season when he recorded a 54-game hitting streak, the longest in Div. II history. His streak was five games longer than the previous record and eight times he got a hit in his final at-bat to keep it going. He led CSUDH to regional appearances in his sophomore and junior seasons as the Toros posted a 75-43 record in this run (.636 win%).
The West Hills, Calif., native earned many awards in his collegiate career, including All-CCAA, All-West Region, and All-American honors. Pillar also demonstrated himself to be a well-rounded student-athlete as he was named a first team selection on the prestigious ESPN the Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District squad. He capped off his senior season and collegiate career with the Rawlings/ABCA National Gold Glove Award.
Pillar was then drafted in the 32nd round of the 2011 draft and reached the majors just two years later. He played seven seasons with Toronto and has been with six other ball clubs. Most recently, he was with the Atlanta Braves when he helped the team win an MLB-best 104 games in 2023. Pillar has a career 16.1 WAR with 106 home runs, 423 RBI, and a .257 batting average. He was named Wilson's Defensive Player of the Year in center field in 2015 and received MVP votes in 2019.
He graduated from Cal State Dominguez Hills in 2011 after majoring in Mathematics and Business.