Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes adds hardware to historic rookie season

MLB Network captured Skenes' subdued reaction to winning the award. Sitting next to his girlfriend, Livvy Dunne, Skenes slightly nodded with a small grin.

ESPN's Jeff Passan noted that Skenes received 23 of 30 first-place votes.

In 23 starts, Skenes went 11-3 with a 1.96 earned run average (ERA) and 170 strikeouts in 133 innings.

Second-place finisher Jackson Merrill received seven first-place votes.

He played in 156 games, batting .292 with 24 home runs and a .326 on-base percentage. Earlier this month, he won a Silver Slugger Award, which MLB.com noted made him the fourth-youngest player to receive the honor, trailing Fernando Valenzuela, Mike Trout and Alex Rodriguez.

But Skenes' rookie campaign was undeniable, and voters rightly rewarded him as the National League's best first-year pro.

ESPN baseball reporter Aiden Gonzalez noted that Skenes' 1.96 ERA was the lowest in the majors since his May 11 debut.

Gonzalez also reminded that Skenes got stronger as the season went along, with the hard-throwing right-hander allowing two runs in five September starts.

OptaStats put Skenes' incredible rookie season in perspective. 

Skenes is the first player in MLB history to win Rookie of the Year, start an All-Star Game and have a season with a sub-2.00 ERA and 10-plus strikeouts per nine innings at any point of his career, let alone in one season.

The Pirates selected Skenes with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2023 MLB Draft.

He made an impression early, becoming the first player in the league in 2024 to throw nine 100+ mph pitches in the first inning in his first big league start.

In his second start, he capped a six-inning outing with a 100 mph fastball on his 100th pitch.

Arguably, his most impressive moment came on June 5 when he struck out likely NL MVP Shohei Ohtani on three consecutive 100 mph pitches in the first inning.

Skenes' Rookie of the Year win was expected after he dazzled MLB throughout the season. We can't wait to see what he does for an encore.