Paul Skenes' Generational Run Tops Vida Blue, Dwight Gooden

Apr 13, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes (30) reacts as he receives a new baseball against the Washington Nationals during the third inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Paul Skenes' Generational Run Tops Vida Blue, Dwight Gooden

Originally posted on Fastball on SI | By Patrick McAvoy | Last updated Apr 20, 2026 8:40 PM ET

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The Pittsburgh Pirates certainly found a star with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 Major League Baseball Draft in Paul Skenes.

Pittsburgh clearly knew that it had found an MLB-ready superstar as well, seeing how Skenes made his debut just a few months later on May 11, 2024. Since then, Skenes has electrified the league. He was an All-Star in 2024 and finished in third place in the National League Cy Young Award race with a 1.96 ERA in 23 starts.

Skenes was even better in 2025. The young flamethrower led the league with a 1.97 ERA and won the first Cy Young Award of his career. Skenes also finished in sixth place in the National League Most Valuable Player Award race.

Right now, he has a 3.27 ERA through five starts in 2026. He had a bad first start in which he allowed five earned runs in 2/3 innings before being pulled on Opening Day. Since then, he has had a 1.27 ERA in his last four starts across 21 1/3 innings of work to go along with a 22-to-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Paul Skenes Is On A Generational Run

Skenes has just been excellent, to say the least. He has dominated enough that he actually has the best ERA by a starter through his first 60 starts while also recording 300-plus strikeouts in big league history at 2.05, as shared by popular X account, Codify.

"Lowest ERA, first 60 career MLB starts (minimum 300+ strikeouts): Paul Skenes, 2.05, Vida Blue, 2.19, Dwight Gooden, 2.20."

Lowest ERA, first 60 career MLB starts
(minimum 300+ strikeouts):

Paul Skenes, 2.05
Vida Blue, 2.19
Dwight Gooden, 2.20 pic.twitter.com/vKkNtZoDeX
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) April 18, 2026

Skenes is just 23 years old. There are plenty of 23-year-old hurlers down in Triple-A just trying to make it to the big leagues for the first time. Skenes is in his third big league season and is well on his way to his third straight All-Star nod and even a potential repeat performance as the National League Cy Young Award winner.

We're watching a generational run right now in Major League Baseball in Pittsburgh Skenes and every fan around the league should be paying attention.

It's not even just that he's having a good stretch in comparison to guys pitching right now, but he has the best ERA in the big leagues in his first 60 starts among hurlers who also had 300 or more strikeouts. In 60 starts, Skenes has a 2.05 career ERA to go along with 409 total strikeouts.

It's simply ridiculous and baseball in general is better for it.

This article first appeared on Fastball on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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