Pirates ace Paul Skenes becomes the National League’s unanimous Cy Young winner, adding another milestone to a historic start to his career.
Paul Skenes delivered the kind of season Pittsburgh fans have waited years to see from a homegrown star, and on Wednesday the Pirates’ young ace was unanimously voted the National League Cy Young Award winner — a rare achievement that immediately becomes one of the franchise’s defining modern moments.
Even without the traditional win–loss record of a typical Cy Young season, Skenes left little doubt about his dominance. He finished with a 1.97 ERA, more than 200 strikeouts and one of the lowest WHIPs in baseball, anchoring a rotation that leaned heavily on his reliability. His numbers placed him at or near the top of several major categories across both leagues and made him one of the most efficient starting pitchers in the sport.
Skenes also achieved marks that linked him to some of baseball’s elite. He became the first NL pitcher since Jacob deGrom in 2018 to pair a sub-2.00 ERA with 200-plus strikeouts and the first MLB pitcher to post a sub-2.00 ERA since Justin Verlander in 2022. At age 23, no one had produced a season like his since Dwight Gooden’s legendary 1985 campaign. His strikeout total was the highest by a Pirates right-hander in the modern era and one of the top single-season marks in team history.
The award also came against a strong field. Philadelphia’s Cristopher Sánchez turned in a 13–5 record and a 2.50 ERA over more than 200 innings, while Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto finished with a 2.49 ERA and later earned World Series MVP honors. Both had compelling cases, but voters selected Skenes first on all 30 ballots, making him the Pirates’ first unanimous Cy Young winner.
Skenes joins Vern Law (1960) and Doug Drabek (1990) as the only Pirates pitchers to win the award. His rise has been rapid — he earned NL Rookie of the Year in 2024, made back-to-back All-Star Game starts, and collected multiple honors from players and national outlets this season. His success only adds to the momentum he began at LSU, where he won the 2023 College World Series and the Dick Howser Trophy.
With this Cy Young, Paul Skenes gives Pittsburgh more than an award winner — he gives the city a new franchise cornerstone and one of the most electric young pitchers in baseball.
