Guardians Trade Left-Handed Starter To The Diamondbacks

Someone had to be the odd man so Bibee could be placed on the 40-man roster and in this case it was Pilkington.

Cleveland originally acquired Pilkington from the Chicago White Sox at the 2021 trade deadline when they sent Cesar Hernandez to their division rival. 

Konnor finally got called up to make his Major League debut during the 2022 season. 

Pilkington made 15 appearances during the 2022 campaign and started 11 of those games. He had a total ERA of 3.88 and an ERA of 4.41 as a starter. Despite the high earned run average, Pilkington did have some shining moments. 

On June 1 of last year, Pilkington struck out eight batters in 5.0 innings of work against the Kansas City Royals. He had another six-strikeout performance in his final start of the season against the Minnesota Twins in 5.2 innings. 

Both games ended in a Guardians win!

When it came down to it, there was just no room on Cleveland's 40-man for Pilkington with all of the up-and-coming pitchers that needed to be promoted. It's not shocking that a team such as the D-Backs would want to take a shot on the 25-year-old. 

Arizona has optioned Pilkington to Triple-A Reno where he'll start the next chapter of his MLB career. 

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