Pirates' Paul Skenes Gives Advice to Young Players

The BBWAA or the Baseball Writer's Asscociation of America honored Skenes for winning the NL Cy Young Award, earning all 30 first place votes from each chapter of all MLB teams.

Skenes thanked the writers for what they do every day and the questions they ask him, that make him think more deeply about who he is.

He thought about what he'd say to young players and fans of the sport and gave a few words of advice to them.

"So to whoever's watching I want to say this," Skenes said. "No matter where you come from, no matter how long the road feels, no matter how many times you hear, 'Not yet', or 'Not possible', keep going.

"Bet on your work, trust the process and don't let anyone else define your ceiling. I'm here right now because I don't understand the word, 'can't.'"

Remembering Skenes' 2025 Cy Young Season

Skenes had just a 10-10 record in 32 starts with the Pirates, but a 1.97 ERA over 187.2 innings pitched, 216 strikeouts to 42 walks, a .199 opposing batting average and a 0.95 WHIP, along with a 10.36 K/9, a 2.01 BB/9 and a 5.14 K/BB.

He ranked amongst the best pitchers in baseball, with the lowest ERA, tied for the fourth-most strikeouts, the fourth-lowest WHIP, the sixth-lowest batting average and the 10th-most innings pitched, plus the fifth best K/BB, seventh best K/9 and ninth best BB/9.

Skenes also ranked highly in the NL, with the lowest WHIP, the fourth-lowest batting average, tied for the second-most strikeouts and the fourth-most innings pitched, as well as the second-best K/BB and both the fifth-best K/9 and BB/9.

This resulted in him breaking records and setting new marks for both the Pirates and MLB.

His play made him the starting pitcher for the NL in the All-Star Game, becoming the first pitcher to start consecutive All-Star games in the first two seasons in the major leagues.

He was the first NL pitcher with a sub-2.00 ERA and 200+ strikeouts since right-hander Jacob DeGrom did it with the New York Mets in 2018. He was a also the first MLB pitcher to finish with a sub-2.00 ERA in a season since right-hander Justin Verlander did so with the Houston Astros in 2022.

Skenes became the first pitcher in MLB history to finish with 200+ strikeouts and a sub-2.00 ERA and still not have a winning record since ERA became a stat in 1913.

He was the first qualified pitcher to post a sub-2.00 ERA in a season at 23 years or younger, since right-hander Dwight Gooden did so at age 20 with the Mets in 1985.

Skenes also made Pirates history, with his 216 strikeouts the most for a right-handed pitcher in the live-ball era (since 1920). Only Ed Morris, who had 326 strikeouts in 1886 and 298 strikeouts in 1885, the most and second-most in a season in franchise history, has more than him.

His 216 strikeouts rank seventh-most in a season in franchise history and fifth most in the live-ball era.

Skenes is just one of three Pirates pitchers that led the MLB in ERA, with right-hander John Candelaria last doing so in 1977 and right-hander Cy Blanton doing it first in 1935, according to OptaStats.