It looked like a drop born from confusion, from fielders converging, one taking belated charge and the ball falling.
To Kevin Pillar, it was a drop born from inexperience.
The Giants center fielder — only reclaiming that role on June 19, when Steven Duggar went down, and set to lose that role once Duggar returns — pointed out the defensive alignment, paired with corner outfielders in Mike Yastrzemski and Alex Dickerson, has seen so little time together, communication can be lost.
Pillar took the blame for the seventh-inning error against the Diamondbacks, in which an Adam Jones pop-up glanced off his glove with Yastrzemski and Joe Panik in the vicinity. But he also put it into context.
“There’s definitely some challenges playing in this stadium,” said Pillar, after the misplay led to the game’s first run in a 4-3 Giants loss at Oracle Park on Saturday. “Additional challenges having three first-time guys out there. … We’re all trying to get to know each other on the fly, trying to understand what we’re all capable of doing and like I said, even with Duggie here, being the most veteran outfielder here. So I gotta take charge out there, continue better dialogue with these guys, not have them shy away from making plays because they feel like I’m coming. I’m fairly vocal out there.
“It’s gonna be something that me and Yaz are gonna talk about [Sunday]. I don’t really like to talk about it in the moment, things going on. We’ll get together.”
Pillar never seemed to take off into a full sprint, instead gliding for a ball that he never got called off from. And while it was nicely placed, the 30-year-old known for his defense got to it and evaded a collision.
But it hit the grass anyway.
“I take a lot of pride in being a good defender and being a center field and taking charge out there,” said Pillar, who was quietly unhappy when Duggar was called up and he was shifted to right. “The ball ended up being a little more toward right field than what I anticipated. It’s one of those balls, too, where initially off the bat, it seems like second base is going to catch it. It seems like maybe the right fielder is gonna catch it.
“Part of being a good center fielder, part of being a leader out there is taking charge. I ended up calling it fairly late. Sometimes you just gotta live with the results, live with the mistake. It’s unfortunate.”
It went down as Pillar’s fourth error of the season, typically a sure glove who makes highlight-reel catches on balls he can reach. This one would have been fairly routine, until it wasn’t.
Oracle Park is not an easy place to play in, as Dickerson found out last week when he lost a flyball when it went above the stadium.
“You got to deal with the sun sometimes, especially in these night games early on,” Pillar said. “And you go through a point of time when that twilight’s kicking in, it’s tough to see the ball there. And obviously, dimensions play a factor and then just the ball, you know, does some different stuff.”
And now the Giants outfield has some stuff to talk about.