Paul Skenes, Livvy Dunne Were Appropriately Excited About Cy Young Award Win

Skenes was the unanimous choice for the 2025 NL Cy Young Award.
Paul Skenes and Livvy Dunne celebrate him winning the 2025 National League Cy Young Award.
Paul Skenes and Livvy Dunne celebrate him winning the 2025 National League Cy Young Award. / Via MLB on X
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Paul Skenes won his first National League Cy Young Award on Wednesday night and, as opposed to the last time he won an MLB award, he was appropriately excited.

Last year, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ ace became a meme when he appeared to barely celebrate winning Rookie of the Year despite his girlfriend, Livvy Dunne, being very excited.

This year, the vibe was much different as Skenes, Dunne, and his family were all thrilled as the news was delivered.

Skenes earned all 30 first-place votes, becoming the 13th National League pitcher to win the award unanimously. It has happened 16 times, with Sandy Koufax being the unanimous winner three times (1963, ‘65, ’66), and Greg Maddux doing it twice (1994, ’95).

The 23-year-old Skenes was incredible in 2025. In 32 starts, he went 10–10 with a 1.97 ERA, a 0.95 WHIP, and 216 strikeouts against 42 walks in 187 2/3 innings. He led MLB in FIP (2.36), and xERA (2.59) and was second among all MLB pitchers in fWAR (6.5), finishing a hair behind AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal (6.6).

The Pirates made Skenes the No. 1 pick in the 2023 MLB draft, and he debuted with the big league club on May 11, 2024. As a rookie, he went 11–3, with a 1.96 ERA, a 0.95 WHIP, and 170 strikeouts against 32 walks in 133 innings. Had he made more starts as a rookie, he likely would have won the Cy Young last year.


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Ryan Phillips
RYAN PHILLIPS

Ryan Phillips is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in digital media since 2009, spending eight years at The Big Lead before joining SI in 2024. Phillips also co-hosts The Assembly Call Podcast about Indiana Hoosiers basketball and previously worked at Bleacher Report. He is a proud San Diego native and a graduate of Indiana University’s journalism program.