Aug 19, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Nationals relief pitcher Konnor Pilkington (45) pitches against the New York Mets during the seventh inning at Nationals Park. Amber Searls-Imagn Images

Nationals Reliever Konnor Pilkington Posts Extremely Intriguing Month

Originally posted on Washington Nationals on SI
By Jeremy Trottier | Last updated Aug 31, 2025 8:00 AM ET

The Washington Nationals have had a brutal 2025 campaign in many different aspects, and while they have some things to look forward to in 2026, it will still take more time to rebuild the franchise.

While there are some extremely exciting young talents both at the MLB level and in their minor league system, finding a balance between that and veterans who can facilitate winning alongside them is crucial.

With new faces behind the rebuild in the front office for now, it will be intriguing to see which direction the team takes moving forward. Mike DeBartolo and Miguel Cairo took over as interim general manager and interim manager, respectively following the firings of Mike Rizzo and Davey Martinez earlier this year. Keeping them around is one option, and finding replacements whom they prefer is another option.

Ultimately it will come down to how the franchise has looked so far in their tenure, and while winning was not exactly expected, strong decision-making was, which so far they have been decent at.

The good news is, they have talent to work with moving forward, and the bullpen has found its stride at times. Konnor Pilkington has been a name to watch as of late, with his production hitting an uptick in his last five appearances.

What About Pilkington's Production Has Been Impressive as of Late?

Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images

Starting off his MLB stint with the Nationals, Pilkington looked rather unhittable, with his first six appearances for the team resulting in six innings of work, two hits allowed, no earned or unearned runs allowed, seven strikeouts and no walks.

Things got a bit tumultuous in his next eight appearances, however, as in that span he pitched 6.2 innings, allowing nine earned runs, 10 unearned runs, five home runs, nine hits, while picking up seven strikeouts and seven walks.

This made his overall season stats implode, jumping his ERA up from 0.00 to 6.39 at its highest. Weirdly enough, though, in his last five games, he has completely reverted back to that initial form. In five innings, he has allowed one hit, one walk and has accrued six strikeouts, while rapidly improving his overall performance.

This inconsistency comes with the nature of being promoted from Triple-A, and while Pilkington has previous MLB experience, it was only 16 games over the course of the 2022 and 2023 seasons. So, this is to be expected, and the hope would be that he managed to continue to produce at this level rather than the tough middle stint instead, and is able to get that ERA back down using his newly found momentum.

This article first appeared on Washington Nationals on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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