Paul Skenes has won his first career Cy Young award. The Pirates righty is named the National League’s best pitcher one year after winning Rookie of the Year and finishing third in Cy Young balloting. He beat out Cristopher Sánchez and Yoshinobu Yamamoto for the honors. The vote was unanimous, as he received all 30 first-place votes. Sánchez was second on every ballot, so it wasn’t until third that voters began to diverge.
Skenes is the third pitcher in franchise history to win the Cy Young, joining Vernon Law (1960) and Doug Drabek (1990). He turned in an MLB-best 1.97 earned run average over his first full season in the big leagues. He’d posted a 1.96 mark across 23 starts as a rookie. He’s the only starting pitcher in the majors with a sub-2.00 ERA over the past two seasons. Skenes ranked fourth in the NL with 187 2/3 innings pitched and tied Jesús Luzardo for second with 216 strikeouts.
Only Logan Webb recorded more strikeouts. Skenes ranked fifth in strikeout rate (minimum 100 innings) and third behind Webb and Sánchez with 20 quality starts. He led the Senior Circuit with a 2.36 FIP and placed fifth with a 3.10 SIERA. FanGraphs and Baseball Reference each had him in essentially a dead heat with Sánchez for the Wins Above Replacement lead.
The 2023 first overall pick is widely considered one of the two best pitchers in the sport. There’s a fair debate between him and two-time AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, but they’re almost certainly 1-2 in some order. Fans of other teams may dream about prying Skenes out of Pittsburgh, but that’s not happening anytime soon. General manager Ben Cherington stated in no uncertain terms yesterday that their ace would remain a Pirate in 2026. He’s under club control for another four seasons, and while a trade may be in the cards down the line, the immediate focus for player and team is getting the Bucs to the postseason. Skenes is the most important player on a team trying to break a decade-long playoff drought.
Sánchez had a breakout season to establish himself as a true ace for the Phillies. He fired 202 innings of 2.50 ERA ball across 32 starts. He finished fourth in the NL with 212 strikeouts. Sánchez had been a borderline top-of-the-rotation starter between 2023-24, earning a top 10 Cy Young finish in the second of those seasons. This was his first time posting a sub-3.00 ERA or topping 200 innings and strikeouts, so he certainly leveled up in his age-28 season. He’s signed through 2028 and under control through ’30 via a pair of club options on one of the most team-friendly contracts in the game.
Yamamoto’s World Series heroics weren’t a factor in the voting, which takes place at the end of the regular season. He earned his first All-Star nod and first Cy Young votes by turning in a 2.49 ERA across 30 starts. Yamamoto managed 201 strikeouts across 173 2/3 innings while leading the NL with fewer than six hits allowed per nine innings. Yamamoto had flashed ace potential in his first MLB season, but he was limited to 18 starts by a rotator cuff strain in 2024. He showed what he’s capable of in a full season in year two, and the Dodgers have won consecutive World Series in the first two seasons of his record-setting $325MM free agent contract.
Just over half of voters placed Yamamoto third. Webb received 10 third-place votes and finished fourth overall. Freddy Peralta picked up the four remaining third-place nods and landed in fifth place. Skenes and Sánchez were the only pitchers who appeared on every ballot. Nick Pivetta, Jesús Luzardo, Andrew Abbott and Zack Wheeler also received votes.
Image courtesy of Katie Stratman, Imagn Images. Full vote tally available courtesy of BBWAA.
That’s predictable now trade him to Yankees. He’s never staying in Pittsburgh
The Dodgers will outbid everyone like they normally do.
Na, he will be a Yankee or an Angel. He grew up an Angels fan and I think if they are anywhere close in the bidding, he will go there. If not, he will pick the Yankees over the Dodgers. At least according to several stories I have read about him.
What do the Angels have that they can trade for Skenes?
Nothing.
Players being traded usually aren’t the ones picking to whom.
He will go wherever the most money is offered, but that won’t happen until 4 more years so get used to seeing him in a Pirates uniform for the next few seasons
Yankees also have a bottom rung farm system. They can’t offer the best package, or anything close.
They still could offer Gil, Warren and some nice prospects.
Unfortunately the Pirates don’t want prospects, they want ready for the majors players with control
Mendoza – The Phillies made the biggest contract offer to Yamamoto, the Mets made the same offer as the Dodgers, and the Yankees offered a higher AAV over 10 years instead of 12.
Yeah, but they don’t have the “Ohtani Japan card” to play with Skenes like they did with Yamamoto and Sasaki..
Maybe a “Suzuki Cubs card”, “Yoshida Red Sox card”, “Matsui Padres card”, or a “Senga Mets card” could work instead, because the Dodgers already have their positions filled.
Or maybe the less ignorant position is taking on the mindset that not all Japanese players follow Ohtani and want to just play in MLB…
You have really become a pain in my backside over the past few days. Is it personal or are you just a random jerk?
Hiflew
He’s not the one pushing the myth that everyone from Japan wants the same thing.
Respectfully, some of your posts are very well thought out, but the Dodgers recruiting of Ohtani, Yamamoto and Sasaki seems to rent full-time space in your head.
Or maybe the Japanese players prefer playing on the west coast.
I didn’t realize I had ever even commented on the Japan thing before, but if I did, no offense was meant toward that nation or its people. Apparently you people take far more note of what I say than I do. I don’t know whether that is a compliment or not, but it is what it is.
And all due respect, I never said anything about every Japanese player at all. I spoke of two players each of which was the #1 posting of their off season. If you take that as me talking about every player, then maybe the problem is yours and not mine.
We’re talking about year scenario not free agents right? So it’s not really about bidding the most.
maybe in a couple years when Pauls Arb greatly increases his salary other wise I doubt the yankees would be able to make a play. stranger things have happened though
Why would the pirates trade him when they have him with like 4 more years of team control! lol
when he hits arbitration… value trade is now so a team can get him prearb and have the best arm in baseball for under 1m for at least a year. If he can bring back great offense then it is worth talking about. Probably not do it but still worth keeping an eye on.
He’s already shot it down, says he doesn’t want to be traded and so did the GM saying he won’t be. This was a rumor created by the media. Much ado about nothing. Move on
I agree. I’m more saying why it would make some sense.
If someone walks up with a crazy offer though, you cannot just say no with out taking a look at it.
I don’t think any single team has the pieces they would part with that would be able to make a trade happen anyway.
From the pirates perspective though, then what was the point of drafting him #1 overall a few yrs ago? Because the fans of baseball and the so called experts at espn want him traded to the Yankees or any other big market team just 3 yrs after drafting him
Why do all Yankee fans think that they are ENTITLED to every mlb player. What makes I think even more hilarious is that they choke every year.
Good for Skenes but happy too for the Pirates fans.
ang – Hard to believe Candelaria, Bibby, Cole, Liriano, Smiley, etc never won a Cy Young for the Bucs.
They were good pitchers but never close to the best in the NL.
those pitchers you mentioned had very good competition from better pitchers during the Buc’s pitchers best seasons
I was in 1960 when Vernon law won the cy. I remember very little about the 1960 pirates. I remember drabek winning in 1990,he wasn’t overpowering but effective. Now skenes is overpowering and has a chance to be one of the all-time greats. He will be with the pirates until he’s eligible to be a free agent. I can honestly say that I think nutting will come to his senses and at least try to keep him here in Pittsburgh. Now cherrington needs to step it up and find some hitting
Btc-No small market team will have the money to keep Skenes as long as he stays healthy.
If the Pirates by some chance have a competitive playoff team they will keep him as long as possible but otherwise he will be gone with two years left if they do not.
I agree with you mendoza..that’s why I said at least try…shame how modern days have screwed small market teams in all sports. Total greed
Greed is pervasive,but at least the other three sports have a salary cap.
I think that many average fans cannot afford to go to many MLB games.
Those fans in that respect are the losers.
Start Polishing those mets unis for Skenes & skubal
Good luck on that
Im just curious ehat you think Mets uniforms are made of. Polished?
😂😂😂😂😂
Good
Congratulations to Paul. For the record though, Cherington said he would be a Pirate in 2026, he didn’t say for how much of 2026.
They will keep him until they only have two years left.
If he stays healthy, Skenes will set the all time record for a 1st year arbitration salary for a pitcher, and possibly first overall of all arbitration players (record is $11.5 for Cody Bellinger). Pittsburgh might hold onto him during that first season, but his second season could be $20M+ and Pitt will be forced to trade him. It’s such a shame. If Pitt could draw 30K+ for every game, maybe they could afford to sign him long term. They have the best pitcher and best ballpark in all of baseball but a bottom 5 attendance record and a bad TV contract. All a recipe for forcing them to trade Skenes within the next 2-3 seasons. All teams are NOT created equal.
@Dorothy_Mantooth, do you know who Bob Nutting is?
It depends on what they could get for him and his health and whether the Pirates become a good team.
It also depends on whether their starting pitching develops even better than they think that it will.
I think that you are right about the dollar numbers.
But if he has three years left they could only trade with a team who has one of the top three or four systems and they would have to be very good teams to afford his salary.
Did pirates did ppi for skenes winning CY? Or similar to roy they get nothing?
No PPI. Teams can only get that if they called the player up for what would’ve been a full service year in their rookie season
Craaazy
Pirates got f’ed by mlb
Rules have to be changed
You’re so insufferable, chandlerbing, my goodness gracious, man…
How are the Pirates f’ed by this. It’s a rule designed to encourage teams to bring up talented rookies, not play service time games. It’s not a bonus. Why the hell should the Pirates get a reward because Skenes won the Cy Young?
No…the Pirates did this to themselves. The entire point of the PPI is to reward teams for not trying to manipulate service time. They played a stupid game last year and won a stupid prize, which, ironically, is not receiving a prize at all.
Brown got Houston a PPI pick for 3rd in Cy Young
Skenes is only allowed to get his team one PPI pick, and he did that last year for Rookie of year.
No he didn’t. He was called up in May so he didn’t spend the entire year on the 26 man. He got a full year of service but the Pirates didn’t get the extra pick
No he’s not allowed to get his team any PPI pick because they tried to play the service time game with him.
How does a dude with a bad haircut a terrible beard, and the personality of a cardboard box end up livvy dunne?
Read the post and there is your answer
I’m pretty sure any sane person would rather go out with a professional baseball Cy Young Award-winning dude with a bad haircut, bad beard, and cardboard box personality than El Chapo
Stein – Funny thing is, El Chapo is only 5’6″.
And his lead attorney did quite well with the ladies. LOL
He has a great personality….
Dude with the bad haircut, terrible beard, and cardboard box personality throws moving lasers.
Congrats, Paul Skenes!
Cy Young in his second year, and he’ll only get better from there.
Now if there was a way for him to get out of Pittsburgh.
One more year and then Pittsburgh won’t be able to afford his arbitration.
Logan Webb not being a top 3 candidate for NL CY is a joke.
I actually ranked Webb in 5th after Skenes, Sanchez, Yamamoto and Peralta.
I thought Wheeler was the best pitcher in the NL until his injury.
Drabek won 14 more games but struck out 85 fewer batters the year he won it. How different the game is since 1990…
How different the Pirates were. They were one of the best teams in baseball in the day.
It would have been interesting if Zach Wheeler would have lasted the entire season.
Well deserved for this beast
Skenes is second only to Sandy Koufax as the best pitcher that I ever saw.
That is presuming that he does not get seriously injured and stays as great as he is.
Koufax was pretty bad his first five years in the league,but the Dodgers were smart enough to keep him around.
Congratulations to Paul Skenes.
Where would Pedro Martinez rank?
I did not see as much of him as I was a baseball junkie further back in the day but I know that Martinez was clearly an all time great.
There are others too but I remember that Koufax had extremely low eras for about four years in a row,
Martinez and Koufax are where discussions of peak pitching greatness usually start. Pedro due to super low eras in the steroid era. Randy Johnson is definitely in that discussion.
Steve Carlton was pretty good too and Warren Spahn for longevity.
Yes, good names. Roger Clemens too if one can get passed the PED use, and of course Greg Maddux is right there.
Clemens is probably the statistical greatest ever which makes that situation very unfortunate. Maddux was a wizard on the mound.
I hope the Pirates find the desire to compete and start surrounding Skenes with some decent talent. We know that Pittsburgh can fill PNC when they are competitive.
Viola should’ve won it the year Drabek did. It was still the era of only wins matters
Well. My Cardinals are in an overdue rebuild. I love watching PS pitch. But he is 0-4 against the cards, So I’ll hold onto that !
Congrats to Pivetta for finishing 6th, ironic how he was one of the last MLB free agents to sign with someone.
no question he was the right call here
Nobody can touch Skenes but Sanchez was phenomenal. Proof the Rays don’t win them all.
After his time is done with the Pirates he will go wherever his girlfriend Livy Dunne wants him to go. The obvious destinations are New York or Los Angeles but I feel like he will end up playing as a Tiger or on the Rangers.
I think that you are right about Livy as they may be married by then but he grew up in California and my guess is that she prefers that area.
Roman Anthony, Franklin Arias, Luis Perales, & Kyson Witherspoon for Paul Skenes. Who says yes or no?
Pirates absolutely MUST have a winter that looks like theyre attempting to win games behind Skenes. If not – theres going to be massive trade push at the deadline. And im honestly not sure if im the Pirates whether im not cashing out a single arm here….amazing arm…but one Id be losing eventually – for a franchise altering prospect haul.
It’s a tough call but trade him for more prospects and then aim for the championship in a few years. Remember, the goal is not to win but to keep winning.
I can’t believe that Sanchez beat out Misiorowski for 2nd place in the Cy voting.
Could be the biggest all star joke of all time. Sanchez missing that for Miz. Unbelievable
They could not properly spell or pronounce his name.
So happy for Skenes and Pirates fans. They deserved this. I also hope it puts pressure on the front office to fix their offense.
really not much doubt. Baring injury hard to see him not being the top few candidates on a regular basis.
his stuff is just nasty. The way he pitches,’ back in the day ‘ I could see him pitching 40 games in the regular season, just looks so effortless. They won’t and probably shouldn’t though.
Get a middling offense around the rotation and they have a real shot at the playoffs.
I would have voted for Cristopher Sanchez. to win. I don’t think the first place should have been unanimous. I’m surprised none of the writers voted for him.
They both started 32 games. Cristopher had a better winning percentage (72%), higher WAR (8.0) and more innings pitched (202). Plus, he helped his team win their division.
Paul is awesome and certainly deserved first place votes but considering personal achievements and team accomplishments you could argue Cristopher was better. Would have liked it if some of the 30 writers had voted first place for Cristopher.
citing wins as a personal achievement is certainly something.
Ask any leader..
Winning ten games on the Pirates is worthy of serious consideration in itself.
Precisely, Mendoza. Yes, racking up wins is important, but context matters.
Congratulations Paul! He earned it! Now the front office needs to surround him with a competitive team.
The Pirates have a solid Starting Rotation. They have an energetic and competent manager in Don Kelly. Konnor Griffin is the best hitting prospect and should make it to the big leagues in 2026 (owner will force him to wait til August at the earliest though)
They now have to go out and upgrade the offense!
Griffin should play in AA for 3-4 weeks then move to AAA until the ML AS break anyway.
Better to fail in the minor leagues and learn from his mistakes because the MLs are much harder than AAA.
Highly recommend Jason Mackey’s article on Henry Davis responding to the rumor that Skenes wants a trade to the Yankees.
post-gazette.com/sports/pirates/2025/11/13/henry-d…
Reading it, it is hard:
1. Not to root for Davis to figure it out at the plate. He’s turned into such a good defensive option for the Pirates and his energy and outlook is the exact kind of mentality that could actually turn things around in Pittsburgh.
2. Not to believe that Skenes is being 100% truthful saying that he wants to win in Pittsburgh. Being in NY may bring him a ring but he would truly enter god-like status in Pittsburgh if he brought them to the NLCS, let alone brought them a ring.
3. To take journalists like that NJ newspaper seriously when not only does he release this story on the day that was supposed to celebrate Skenes accomplishment (for clicks, no doubt) and to have it seem to be unverified by many other teammates of Skenes’, especially Davis whom it is obvious he trusts.
It’s frustrating as a Pirates fan, yes, but it is even more frustrating as a baseball fan to see journalists just try to get more people to pay attention to them and their scoop to the detriment of players like Skenes and his accomplishments. Great story by Mackey. Love Davis and love Skenes and hope they are able to lead a turnaround in that organization.
Welcome to the day that extreme hype has taken over for truth telling with unbiassed behavior.
That probably happened fifty years ago though.
And everybody is rooting for Henry.He does have value too as he has developed into a fine catcher which is not a small thing.
And I agree with you about Skenes.He wants to make an historic mark somewhere and what better place that needs it the most than Pittsburgh.I think that he is a midwesterner at heart,and the major city teams are not for everyone.Ego is not a big thing with him and I do not think that it ever will be.But Nutting owes it to him and Pirates fans to spend more money now to put a winning team on the field.