Pirates Star Earns All-MLB First Team Prediction

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Pirates star pitcher Paul Skenes hasn't fallen into a "sophomore slump" in 2025 and has continued his great play from last season.

Skenes has a 3-5 record over his first 11 starts, but has dominated opposing offenses, allowing just 18 earned runs over 68.2 innings pitched for a 2.36 ERA, 70 strikeouts to 18 walks, a .190 opposing batting average and a 0.95 WHIP.

His below .500 record is a result of the Pirates offense not providing him with great run support. They have scored 37 runs over those 11 starts, around 3.4 runs per game, but one of those games includes a 10-3 victory over the Washington Nationals on April 14, bringing him to 27 runs over the other 10 starts.

Skenes dominated the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on May 18. He allowed just three hits, a walk and an earned run, while striking out nine batters, tying a season-high.

He would pitch his first complete game, but in eight innings, as the Pirates lost 1-0.

Skenes had another sensational start vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodgers Stadium on April 25. He struck out nine batters over 6.1 innings pitched, while allowing five hits and no runs in the 3-0 win.

His latest start saw him post eight strikeouts over six innings against the Milwaukee Brewers at PNC Park on May 23.

Manny Randhawa wrote his All-MLB predictions entering the month of June and placed Skenes on the first team, along with right-handers Zack Wheeler of the Phillies and Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Dodgers, plus left-handers Max Fried of the New York Yankees and Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers.

Randhawa also described Skenes as, "the most electric starter in the game."

Skenes is coming off a 2024 season, where he came up to the MLB on May 11 and showed the baseball world why he was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 Draft out of LSU.

He finished with an 11-3 record over 23 starts, a 1.96 ERA over 133.0 innings pitched, 170 strikeouts to 32 walks, a .198 opposing batting average and 0.95 WHIP.

Skenes started for the National League in the All-Star game and won NL Rookie of the Year. He also finished third in NL Cy Young Award voting and earned All-MLB First Team honors.