Could Pirates Star Be An MVP Candidate?
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Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes has already called his shot to win the National League Cy Young Award this year.
But could he shoot higher in his first full season in the big leagues?
MLB.com's Will Leitch gave seven predictions for the upcoming season, with one of them being that the Pirates ace will build on his historic rookie season. Along with that, he said he believes Skenes could be an MVP candidate in 2025.
"But in 2025, it sure would be exciting for baseball to get The Full Skenes," Leitch said. "And why not? The Pirates should be competitive in the winnable NL Central, Skenes should be able to build on the 133 MLB innings he threw last year (plus 27 1/3 at Triple-A), and the rest of the league shouldn’t be any more capable of dealing with him on the mound than it was in 2024. Skenes just finished third in NL Cy Young Award voting despite the relatively light workload. Give him 180 or 200 … could he win the MVP?"
Outside of two-way Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, Skenes would be the first pitcher to win the MVP since Clayton Kershaw in 2014. Kershaw and Justin Verlander are the only pitchers to win the MVP in the 21st century. The last Pirates player to win the MVP was Andrew McCutchen in 2013.
PAUL. SKENES.
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) July 11, 2024
7 IP
0 H
0 R
1 BB
11 K
The @Pirates rookie lowers his ERA to 1.90. pic.twitter.com/8QAg4sD4CZ
Skenes delivered a rookie season for the ages en route to winning the 2024 Rookie of the Year and finishing third in the NL Cy Young. Skenes finishing third for the NL CY Young Award made him the fifth rookie to accomplish the feat and the first since Jose Fernandez in 2013. Pittsburgh's ace was also the first rookie pitcher to start an All-Star game since Hideo Nomo of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1995.
The Pirates right-hander 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. Pittsburgh's ace 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.
The training wheels will be off for Skenes in 2025. If he can build off of his rookie year and the Pirates are in the thick of the NL playoff race for the entirety of next season, winning an MVP next season or at any point isn't far-fetched by any stretch of the imagination.
