Nationals DFA former Guardians pitcher who found new life in Washington 

It looks like the Konnor Pilkington era is over in Washington. 

While the former Guardians pitcher had generated some buzz as a potential high-leverage reliever for the Nationals in 2026, they removed him from their MLB picture on Wednesday by designating him for assignment to free up space for infielder Tsung-Che Cheng, who they claimed off waivers from the Mets. 

Nationals designate former Guardians pitcher Konnor Pilkington for assignment 

Pilkington first entered the Guardians’ ecosystem in 2021 when they acquired him from the White Sox at the trade deadline in a one-for-one swap in exchange for second baseman César Hernández. 

Pilkington ended up making his debut for the Guardians in 2022, where he had a 3.88 ERA in 58 innings while working in a swingman role as Cleveland navigated pitching injuries. He appeared in one game for the Guardians in 2023 and pitched two scoreless innings before being designated for assignment to make room for Tanner Bibee. 

Even though Pilkington never ended up doing much for Cleveland, the Guardians’ trade for him ended up becoming a win thanks to Hernández not doing much of anything with the White Sox. 

After not appearing in the bigs in 2024, he found new life with the Nationals in 2025 to the tune of a 4.45 ERA in 28 1/3 innings. He still struggled with his command (13.8% walk rate) but was able to bump his fastball velocity up to 94 miles per hour thanks to a shift to the bullpen. 

The Nationals elected to keep him on the 40-man roster for the offseason, and he got that aforementioned buzz as a closing option due to the fact he was one of the few left-handed pitchers in the Nationals’ bullpen. 

It’ll be interesting to see what happens with Pilkington since he has some clear pluses thanks to his increased velocity and remaining minor league option, but that jarring walk rate will likely keep teams away from claiming him on waivers since he’d need to take up a 40-man roster spot. 

Pilkington is also coming off a season where he had a 2.59 ERA in Triple-A, so it’s clear that there’s a quality pitcher lurking under the surface, but that lack of command has hindered his ability to pitch at the big league level. 

Pilkington’s DFA is another example of the Nationals’ looking to turn over every rock to try to rearrange their roster amidst a lengthy rebuild. 

Washington Shortstop CJ Abrams has been a mainstay in trade rumors for most of the offseason, so the fact Washington chose to add Cheng isn’t much of a surprise.