Pirates' Paul Skenes Could Make History In 2025
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Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes asserted himself as one of the best pitchers in baseball en route to winning the 2024 National League Rookie of the Year.
What could he do for an encore in 2025?
MLB.com's Sarah Langs listed 10 players who could make history next season. Among them was Skenes, as he could lead baseball in ERA and strikeouts based on FanGraphs' Steamer projections.
"Skenes’ stellar rookie season was just an appetizer," Langs writes. "With a 2.80 ERA and 242 strikeouts, he’s projected to lead the Majors in both categories. At 23 years and 122 days old on the final day of the season, Skenes would be the fourth-youngest to lead all qualified MLB pitchers in ERA for a season since earned runs became official in both leagues in 1913, according to the Elias Sports Bureau."
FanGraphs' Steamer projects Skenes to go 13-9 with a 2.80 ERA and 242 strikeouts.
Skenes also finished third for the NL Cy Young Award. With the third-place finish, Skenes was the fifth rookie in MLB history to finish top three for both the Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Award in MLB history.
Skenes went 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA in 23 starts and set a Pirates franchise record for a rookie with 170 strikeouts over 133 innings pitched. The Pirates right-hander was also the first pitcher in MLB history to have an ERA below 2.20, over 150 strikeouts in their first 21 games and the second pitcher since 1913 to have an ERA below 2.00 through their first 22 appearances.
If Skenes can build on his rookie year in his first full season in the big leagues and lead baseball in ERA and strikeouts, he'd break the record previously set by Doc Gooden.
"The only pitchers to do so at a younger age than he will be when the regular season ends are Dwight Gooden in 1985 (20 years, 324 days at season’s end), Mark Fidrych in 1976 (22 years, 50 days) and Dutch Leonard in 1914 (22 years, 177 days)," Langs writes. "Add in leading MLB in strikeouts, too, and the only pitcher to lead in both in a season before turning 24 is Gooden."
