Konnor Pilkington

Konnor Chase Pilkington (born September 12, 1997) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Guardians.

Konnor Pilkington
Arizona Diamondbacks
Pitcher
Born: (1997-09-12) September 12, 1997
Pascagoula, Mississippi, U.S.
Bats: Left
Throws: Left
MLB debut
April 15, 2022, for the Cleveland Guardians
MLB statistics
(through 2023 season)
Win–loss record1–2
Earned run average3.75
Strikeouts52
Teams

Amateur career

Pilkington attended East Central High School in Moss Point, Mississippi. For his high school career, he had a 25–7 win–loss record with a 1.70 earned run average (ERA), totaled 307 strikeouts, and helped opponents to a batting average of .144.[1] In June 2014, at the age of 16, he committed to Mississippi State University to play college baseball.[2]

As a freshman at Mississippi State in 2016, Pilkington went 3–1 with a 2.08 ERA with 42 strikeouts while appearing in 14 games (11 starts).[3] After the season, he pitched in the Cape Cod Baseball League for the Brewster Whitecaps with whom he posted a 2–1 record in 39+1⁄3 innings while finishing the league third overall with a 1.37 ERA and earning a spot on the CCBL 2016 Year-End All-League Team.[4][5] In 2017, as a sophomore, Pilkington started a team high 17 games, going 8–5 with a 3.08 ERA and 111 strikeouts in 108 innings.[6] He was invited to play for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team during the summer where he pitched against Cuba, Japan and the Chinese Taipei teams while collecting a 2.65 ERA in five appearances. [7] As a junior in 2018, Pilkington was named a Preseason All-American Second Team by Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, NCBWA, and Perfect Game and a Third Team Preseason All-American by D1 Baseball.[8] Pilkington was the Friday night starter for MSU.[9] He finished the 2018 season with a 3–6 record and a 4.47 ERA in 18 starts.[10]

Professional career

Chicago White Sox

The Chicago White Sox selected Pilkington in the third round of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft and he signed with the team for a $650,000 signing bonus.[11][12] He made his professional debut with the Rookie-level Arizona League White Sox and was later promoted to the Great Falls Voyagers of the Rookie Advanced Pioneer League. Over 14 innings between the two clubs, he was 0–1 with a 7.07 ERA.[13] Pilkington began 2019 with the Kannapolis Intimidators of the Class A South Atlantic League in their starting rotation.[14] After going 1–0 with a 1.62 ERA in six starts, Pilkington was promoted to the Winston-Salem Dash of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League with whom he finished the year.[15] Over 19 starts with the Dash, he went 4–9 with a 4.99 ERA, striking out 96 over 95+2⁄3 innings.[16] To begin the 2021 season, he was assigned to the Birmingham Barons of the Double-A South.[17] Over 14 starts with the Barons, he went 4–4 with a 3.48 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP while striking out 71 over 62 innings.[18]

Cleveland Indians / Guardians

On July 29, 2021, the White Sox traded Pilkington to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for César Hernández.[19] Upon acquiring him, the Indians assigned Pilkington to the Akron RubberDucks of the Double-A Northeast.[20] Over eight games (seven starts) with Akron, he went 3-2 with a 2.33 ERA and 49 strikeouts over 38+2⁄3 innings.[21]

The newly-named Cleveland Guardians selected Pilkington to their 40-man roster on November 19, 2021.[22] On April 2, 2022, the Guardians announced that he had been named to the Opening Day roster.[23] On April 14, Pilkington was optioned to Triple-A without making an appearance for the big league club. He briefly became a phantom ballplayer until he was recalled to the major league roster and made his MLB debut the following day.[24] Pilkington pitched in 15 games (starting 11) for Cleveland in 2022, registering a 1-2 record and 3.88 ERA with 50 strikeouts in 58.0 innings pitched.

He began the 2023 season with Triple-A Columbus, but struggled to an 8.36 ERA across 4 starts. Pilkington made only one appearance for Cleveland, tossing two scoreless innings of relief with two strikeouts. He was designated for assignment on April 26, 2023, following the promotion of Tanner Bibee.[25]

Arizona Diamondbacks

On May 1, 2023, the Guardians traded Pilkington to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for cash considerations.[26] In 11 starts for the Triple–A Reno Aces, he struggled to a 9.53 ERA with 37 strikeouts in 39+2⁄3 innings pitched. On July 7, he was designated for assignment by Arizona following the promotion of Dominic Canzone.[27] He cleared waivers and was sent outright to Triple–A Reno on July 13.[28]

References
  1. url=http://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/konnor-pilkington/D2WOY_TrEeKZ5AAmVebBJg/gendersport/baseball-stats.htm
  2. Magee, Patrick (June 14, 2014). "East Central's Pilkington commits to MSU". Sun Herald.
  3. url=https://msstate_ftp.sidearmsports.com/stats/bb/2016/teamstat.htm
  4. "Konnor Pilkington – Cape Code Baseball League". Pointstreak Sports Technologies. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  5. Ochs, Patrick (September 2, 2016). "Former Coast baseball player's summer on Cape 'nothing short of phenomenal'". Sun Herald.
  6. "Konnor Pilkington". The Baseball Cube. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  7. "Konnor Pilkington Receives Fourth Preseason All-America Honor". Mississippi State Athletics. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  8. "Pilkington receives another preseason honor with baseball Bulldogs". Starkville Daily News. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  9. "MLB.com 2018 Prospect Watch". Major League Baseball. Archived from the original on February 23, 2018. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  10. Hudgison, Chris (August 23, 2019). "Mississippi State pitcher Konnor Pilkington signs with White Sox". WLBT.com.
  11. Price, Satchel (June 5, 2018). "White Sox select Konnor Pilkington with third-round pick in 2018 MLB Draft". Chicago Sun-Times.
  12. "Mississippi State pitcher Konnor Pilkington signs with White Sox - WMC Action News 5 - Memphis, Tennessee". www.wmcactionnews5.com. Archived from the original on June 28, 2018.
  13. Gregor, Scot (May 11, 2019). "Pilkington looking like future piece for Chicago White Sox's rotation". Daily Herald.
  14. Santaromita, Dan (April 4, 2019). "Where the top White Sox prospects are starting the 2019 minor league season". NBC Sports Chicago.
  15. Gregor, Scot (May 11, 2019). "Pilkington looking like future piece for Chicago White Sox's rotation". Daily Herald. Retrieved June 3, 2019.
  16. "Wrangling 2020 White Sox prospects: Big hurdles". February 7, 2020.
  17. "White Sox will send Jake Burger to Triple-A Charlotte amid other aggressive minor-league assignments".
  18. "MiLB Stats". MiLB.com. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  19. "Cleveland Indians trade 2B Hernandez to White Sox". July 29, 2021.
  20. "Cleveland Indians trade 2B Cesar Hernandez to AL Central rival White Sox". cleveland. July 29, 2021.
  21. "Akron RubberDucks one game from clinching Class AA Northeast championship". cleveland. September 23, 2021.
  22. "Guardians Announce Series Of 40-man Roster Moves". CleGuardians.com. November 19, 2021.
  23. "Guardians' Opening Day Roster Beginning to Take Shape".
  24. "Konnor Pilkington Stats, Fantasy & News". MLB.com.
  25. Adams, Steve (April 26, 2023). "Guardians Promote Tanner Bibee, Designate Konnor Pilkington For Assignment". MLB Trade Rumors.
  26. Adams, Steve (May 1, 2023). "Guardians Trade Konnor Pilkington To Diamondbacks". MLB Trade Rumors.
  27. "Diamondbacks' Konnor Pilkington: Designated for assignment". cbssports.com. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
  28. "Diamondbacks' Konnor Pilkington: Outrighted to Triple-A". cbssports.com. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
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