Pirates' Paul Skenes Addresses Cy Young Award
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PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Pirates right-handed starting pitcher Paul Skenes has had an incredible season in 2025, putting him up for the top award a pitcher can earn.
Skenes, despite having an 8-9 record over 27 starts in 2025, has served as one of the best pitchers in the MLB, with a 2.07 ERA over 161.0 innings pitched, 181 strikeouts to 37 walks, a .195 opposing batting average and a 0.94 WHIP, plus a 10.12 K/9, a 2.07 BB/9 and a 4.89 K/BB.
He holds the lowest ERA, tied for the third lowest opposing batting average, fourth lowest WHIP, fourth most strikeouts and the fifth most innings pitched, plus the ninth highest K/9, seventh best K/BB and the 11th best BB/9.
Skenes also started for the NL in the All-Star Game, making him the first pitcher ever that started consecutive All-Star Games in their first two seasons at the MLB level.
With Skenes putting on the season he has had, many see him as a favorite for the National League Cy Young Award, recognizing the two best pitchers in baseball.
The Pirates have only had two pitchers ever win the Cy Young Award, with Vernon Law doing so in 1960, which covered the entire MLB during the first 11 seasons of the award (1956-66), and Doug Drabek winning the NL Cy Young Award in 1990.
Skenes had a decorated first season with the Pirates in 2024, winning NL Rookie of the Year Award, earning MLB All-First Team honors and finishing third in the NL Cy Young Award voting.
Despite all the talk about the Cy Young Award, Skenes isn't too concerned, knowing that if he goes out and performs the way he has, he'll be in the best spot to win it.
"Maybe a little bit, but it's the same thing as last year," Skenes said. "One, the award itself is out of my hands. If it's up to the voters, it's out of your hands. Two, if you do what you're supposed to do and take care of it, keep doing the work and pitch well, it's going to take care of itself, however it should. Whether you win it or not. It's the same thing as rookie of the year last year. That's how I look at it."
One of the biggest competitors for the NL Cy Young Award this season was Philadelphia Phillies right-handed starting pitcher Zack Wheeler, until he underwent season-ending thoracic outlet decompression surgery, removing a right upper extremity blood clot, which will keep him out the next six-to-eight months
Wheeler has the third most strikeouts (195), the third lowest WHIP (0.94), tied for the fifth lowest opposing batting average (.197) and the ninth lowest ERA (2.71), even post-injury.
Skenes isn't happy that Wheeler won't pitch the rest of the season, and while it could make his race for the award easier, he always wants to face the best and beat the best in baseball.
"I try not to look at it that way," Skenes said. "It's unfortunate. You want to win, when we go out there and play the Rockies, I want to beat the Rockies with their best guys out there. If you win an award like that, you want to win with guys at their best. It's unfortunate for him, obviously for the award. It's bad for baseball that he's not in the game, that he's not going to be in the postseason this year. It's unfortunate."
Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.