Pirates' Paul Skenes Among Top Pitchers of 2025 Season
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Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes is knocking on the door of being viewed as the best pitcher in baseball.
For now, though, that day hasn't quite arrived yet. ESPN's Buster Olney ranked the top 10 starting pitchers in baseball and had Skenes at No. 3. The Pirates' ace only trailed Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Zack Wheeler and Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal. Skubal won the AL Cy Young Award, while Wheeler finished in second place for the award in the National League, only trailing Atlanta Braves left-hander Chris Sale.
Skenes won the 2024 NL Rookie of the Year and finished third for the NL Cy Young Award.
"Skenes went into last season amid ridiculous expectations and yet he exceeded all of them, striking out 170 batters in 133 innings, generating an ERA+ of 214," Olney wrote. "To put that number into perspective: Clayton Kershaw, who should be elected unanimously into the Hall of Fame someday, has achieved that only once, in 2016. Chris Sale (174) and Tarik Skubal (170) did not reach that while winning Cy Young Awards last season."
Skenes entered the 2024 season as one of the most hyped pitching prospects in MLB history after he was taken with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft. The Pirates right-hander blew and all expectations that were placed upon him out of the water in his rookie season.
Skenes went 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA in 23 starts while setting a Pirates franchise record for a rookie with 170 strikeouts over 133 innings. He was also the first pitcher in MLB history to have an ERA below 2.20 and 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. Skenes was also the first rookie pitcher to start an All-Star game since Los Angeles Dodgers right-handed pitcher Hideo Nomo in 1995.
If Skenes can build on one of the greatest rookie seasons in MLB history, he may be the undisputed best pitcher in baseball and would likely be well positioned to be the first Pirates pitcher to win the NL Cy Young Award since Doug Drabek in 1990.
