Pittsburgh Pirates Announce Paul Skenes News on Wednesday

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Pittsburgh Pirates Announce Paul Skenes News on Wednesday

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Cole Sullivan | Last updated Sep 24, 2025 7:52 PM ET

The 2025 season is nearing its end for the Pittsburgh Pirates, who entered Wednesday night with just five games left and once again on the outside of the playoff picture.

Still, they’ve clearly discovered a superstar in pitcher Paul Skenes. Taking the mound in Game 2 against the Cincinnati Reds—likely his final start of his second MLB season—Skenes has emerged as the clear favorite for the NL Cy Young Award and capped things off by making franchise history.

In the second inning, after striking out Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz, Skenes became the Pirates’ single-season strikeout leader among right-handed pitchers. It marked his 211th strikeout of the year, moving him to sixth all-time among Pirates pitchers in a single season.

Paul Skenes is now the Pirates single-season strikeout leader among right-handed pitchers.
His 211 Ks now rank sixth all-time among all Pirates pitchers in a single season. pic.twitter.com/WFMEJoh70D
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) September 24, 2025

Fans reacted to Skenes' historic milestone:

"1st full season bye the way," a fan said.

Someone else added, "The $ amount for Skenes is going to break records."

Another person wrote, "Mitch Keller (210) set the previous record in 2023."

"Skenes ranks eighth all-time for a single season in Pirates franchise history trailing two seasons of Ed Morris, four seasons of Bob Veale and one year of Oliver Perez, all lefty pitchers," one more fan commented.

This season, Skenes has been nothing short of dominant, even if his win-loss record doesn’t fully reflect his performance due to inconsistent run support. Entering Wednesday, he carried a 10-10 record with a 2.03 ERA, a 7.2 WAR, and a 0.958 WHIP.

He’s already made back-to-back All-Star Game appearances as the Pirates’ NL representative and finished third in Cy Young voting as a rookie, despite making just 23 starts that season.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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