Padres Troll Pirates' Paul Skenes
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PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Pirates star pitcher Paul Skenes had an exceptional year in 2024, but one MLB franchise thinks that their young star was better.
The San Diego Padres have a sign heading to their ballpark, PETCO Park, that has "Welcome to M3RRILLMANIA and Jackson Merrill. The Real 2024 NL Rookie of the Year"
This road sign on the way to Petco Park 😂 pic.twitter.com/l7lsM3QScB
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) March 29, 2025
The Padres center fielder had a great 2024 season, as he slashed .290/.333/.492 for an OPS of .826, with 133 hits, 25 doubles, four triples, 20 home runs, 73 RBIs, 13 stolen bases and 30 walks in 156 games for a 4.4 WAR.
He earned an All-Star nod for the National League, the first Padres player to ever do so, while earning All-MLB Second Team honors and winning a Silver Slugger Award.
Some Padres fans believe that since Merrill started the season entirely, compared to Skenes, who didn't come up until May.
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, while notching 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, 2024.
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 recording 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 last doing so before him in 1995, en route to winning NL Rookie of the Year.
Skenes also made the All-MLB First Team for his performance in 2024, won NL Rookie of the Year and was a finalist for the NL Cy Young Award.
He won 23 of the 30 votes for the NL Rookie of the Year Award and Merrill won just seven votes.
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.