Pirates' Paul Skenes continues to make Cy Young case with dominant July

Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes continued his charge toward the National League Cy Young Award on Sunday afternoon, pitching six shutout innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks in a 6-0 win. It also completed an utterly dominant month of July that saw his performance reach an entirely new level, even for him. 

Including Sunday's start against Arizona, Skenes made five starts in July and threw 27 innings.

He allowed just two runs in those innings, and both of them came on one swing of the bat in a July 11 start at Minnesota, where he allowed a two-run home run against Trevor Larnach.

Other than that one swing, nobody scored a single run against Skenes in the month, including his one inning of work in the 2025 All-Star game.

Overall, his ERA in July was a microscopic 0.67 with a 0.88 WHIP, while striking out 36 batters (12 per nine innings) and walking just three.

It is almost impossible for a pitcher to be more dominant than that over a single month. 

He has also yet to allow a first-inning run in any start this season.

All of this has only strengthened his argument for the 2025 NL Cy Young Award.

Through the end of July, his ERA for the season is down to just 1.83, while he leads the National League in ERA, FIP (fielding independent pitching) and WAR (Wins Above Replacement), while trailing only Philadelphia's Zack Wheeler in WHIP (0.89 to 0.90). 

Sunday was the 45th start of his career, with his career ERA now sitting at 1.89. That is the third-lowest of any pitcher in baseball since ERA became an official stat in both leagues. He is sandwiched between a bunch of pitchers who played before the live-ball era.