Well, add another accolade to the young career of Pittsburg Pirates hurler Paul Skenes. The Bucs right hander was just named the Baseball Digest Pitcher of the Year.
The 23-year-old Skenes ended the season with a 10-10 record, but he led the Majors with a 1.96 ERA, his second straight season with an ERA under 2.00, and he also led the league with a 0.948 WHIP and a 2.36 FIP.
He also had 216 strikeouts in 187 innings pitched for a truly stellar campiagn.
Despite that .500 record, Skenes should also be the leading candidate for the NL Cy Young Award, narrowly avoiding a losing season down the home stretch of the 2025 campaign.
Skenes hits pre-arbitration in 2026 and is under team control until 2029, though there are many who feel that the Bucs hurler is destined to be traded before the end of his contract. Will Bob Nutting pony up the hundreds of millions needed to sgn Skenes to an extension? That’s a tough sell convincing many people of that likelihood, even for a player of Skenes’ caliber.
But the hope is that combining the game’s best young pitcher and one of its best young hitters in Konnor Griffin will finally lead to the bright future that Pirates fans have been waiting on for years, as long as Skenes isn’t dealt beforehand.
Congrats to Skenes. He’s already won plenty of awards. There looks to be more on the way.
