The Nationals are bringing back a familiar lefty arm.
Konnor Pilkington has agreed to a minor league deal with Washington and will report to Triple-A Rochester, according to the MiLB.com transaction log. The same tracker also shows the club released right-handed reliever Trevor Gott from his minor league contract.
Pilkington, 6-foot-3, spent last season with the Nationals and made 32 appearances. Over 28 1/3 innings, he posted a 4.45 ERA while striking out 28% of opposing hitters, though he also walked 14% of them. Washington outrighted him off the 40-man roster during the winter, and he then elected free agency before signing a minor league deal with the Tigers.
His year in Detroit’s Triple-A system hasn’t gone nearly as well. Pilkington has logged a 5.40 ERA in 33 1/3 innings, with nearly 18% of hitters reaching base via walk.
His fastball has also been down a tick, sitting at 92.1 mph after sitting in the 94-95 range last season. The strikeout rate has slipped to 18.9%, even though he has generally been a strikeout pitcher in the minors.
Detroit released him last week.
Gott, 33, has been in Rochester all season. He has turned in a 3.55 ERA over 33 innings, with a 19% strikeout rate and a 10.6% walk rate. The veteran reliever has appeared in parts of eight big-league seasons and owns a 4.65 ERA in 255 career MLB outings, though he hasn’t pitched at the major league level in three years.
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Through four rehab appearances, Kranick has yet to issue a walk in 5.2 innings and has posted a 3.18 ERA, which is exactly the kind of clean work Washington can use to map out the next phase. The organization is expected to keep stretching him toward tougher assignments, with back-to-back throwing days and AAA appearances likely next before any conversation about a return to the major league bullpen gets serious. [Read more 🡒]