Paul Skenes Makes Pirates History, Continues Push for Cy Young Award

The Pittsburgh Pirates may have had a season to forget, but that couldn’t be more opposite for right-handed pitcher Paul Skenes, who capped off an impressive campaign on Wednesday.

During the Pirates’ 4-3 victory in extra innings against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park, the 23-year-old pitched four hits and zero runs in seven innings, lowering his ERA to 1.97. Skenes also etched his name in Pirates franchise history for most strikeouts in a single season for a right-handed pitcher after recording seven during the win and tallying his total to 216 on the season.

“I’m actually worse than I was last year,” he said after the game. “It was 1.96 last year. I’m 1.97 this year. Just got to be better. No, it’s cool. I don’t come into the year with any numerical goals.”

In just his second year in the MLB, Skenes is a frontrunner for the Cy Young Award. He became the youngest pitcher to record an ERA below 2.00 since Dwight Gooden in 1985, who pitched a 1.53 with the New York Mets. Skenes also finishes the year with 46 more strikeouts than his rookie season.

Despite the record-breaking pitching shown by Skenes, the Pirates will conclude their seventh consecutive season below .500 and will miss the postseason for the 10th straight year. Still, Skenes will be hoping to win the Cy Young Award to finish off his promising second season in Pittsburgh.

“Unfortunately, you can’t have two guys win the Cy Young,” he said. “I don’t really know what my numbers versus other guys stacks up to, so we’ll see.”