Pirates' Paul Skenes Projected for Top Award
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PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Pirates star pitcher Paul Skenes enters the 2025 season as one of the top players in baseball and national media see him the same.
Keith Law of The Athletic released his predictions for awards at the end of the 2025 season, and has Skenes winning the National League Cy Young Award.
"I feel like this should be everybody’s pick," Law wrote. "He might have the best stuff of any starter in baseball right now, at least considering the entire arsenal. The only things that might stop him are injury or the Pirates (meaning they limit his innings)."
Skenes starred at LSU in 2023, after transferring from Air Force. He had a 13-2 record in 19 starts, 1.69 ERA in 122.2 innings pitched, gave up just 23 earned runs and seven earned runs, while making 209 strikeouts to just 20 walks, leading the program to a national title that season.
He would enter the 2023 MLB Draft, where the Pirates took him with the No. 1 overall pick. He also signed with the franchise on a $9.2 million signing bonus, the highest ever given to a player at the time.
Skenes dominated in the minor leagues and soon made it up to the majors on May 11 of the 2024 season.
He started 23 games, had a 1.96 ERA in 133 innings, allowed just 29 earned runs, 94 hits, six home runs and 32 walks, while making 170 strikeouts and holding opposing hitting to a .198 batting average. He also had a 11.50 K/9 and a WHIP of 0.95.
He was the first member of the Pirates to start for the National League in the All-Star Game since Jerry Reuss did it in 1975, 49 years ago. He was also just the fifth rookie to start an All-Star game, with Hideo Nomo of the Los Angeles Dodgers doing so in 1995, en route to winning NL Rookie of the Year.
Skenes won NL Rookie of the Year, made the All-MLB First Team and finished third in the NL CY Young Award voting.
The Pirates have only had two Cy Young Award winners in their history, with Vern Law doing so in 1960 and Doug Drabek earning it in 1990.
Skenes will serve as the Opening Day starter for the Pirates, as they begin their season with a four-game road series vs. the Miami Marlins, starting on March 27.
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.