Pirates Superstar Named Cy Young Finalist

Who Else is Skenes Up Against for the Cy Young?

Skenes is up against right-handed pitchers in Cristopher Sánchez from the Philadelphia Phillies and Yoshinobu Yamamoto from the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Sánchez posted a 13-5 record over 32 starts, a 2.50 ERA over 202.0 innings pitched, 212 strikeouts to 44 walks, a 1.06 WHIP and a .227 opposing batting average.

Yamamoto had a 12-8 record in 30 starts, a 2.49 ERA over 173.2 innings pitched, 201 strikeouts to 59 walks, a 0.99 WHIP and a .183 opposing batting average.

Skenes Had An Excellent 2025 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 the MLB, 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.

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 MLB.

Skenes also earned accolades for his play, with Baseball Digest naming him their Pitcher of the Year, the MLB Players Association Choice Awards naming him the NL Outstanding Pitcher of the Year and Sporting News naming Skenes to their All-Star team.

Skenes Sets New Records in 2025

This 2025 campaign for Skenes was historic, as he broke numerous records, both in baseball and for the franchise.

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 is 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.

Pirates History With the Cy Young Award

The Pirates have only had two Cy Young Award winners in franchise history, with Pirates Hall of Famer Vern Law winning it in 1960, when it was one MLB award, and Doug Drabek winning the NL Cy Young in 1990.

Law had his best season with the Pirates in that 1960 season, with a 20-9 record, NL-high 18 complete games, a 3.08 ERA over 271.2 innings pitched, 120 strikeouts to 40 walks, a 1.13 WHIP and an opposing batting average of .257.

Drabek had a 22-6 record in 33 starts, a 2.76 ERA over 231.1 innings pitched, 131 strikeouts to 56 walks, a .225 opposing batting average and a 1.06 WHIP.

Skenes had a shot at the NL Cy Young last season, but finished third in the voting, with Atlanta Braves left-handed pitcher Chris Sale winning it.