Paul Skenes is the main event for the Pittsburgh Pirates this season.
The Pittsburgh Pirates are about to embark on their season, and while there are 26 players making the team, none catch the eye more than starting pitcher Paul Skenes.
Skenes is what will get people excited about the Pirates this season, and though other players are worth some excitement too, he is the star headliner.
ESPN’s Jorge Castillo is looking forward to every Skenes start this season.
Skenes’ outings became appointment television last season after the Pirates finally called him up in May. He came as advertised, slicing through lineups every fifth day for an otherwise mediocre club. Skenes went 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA and 170 strikeouts in 23 starts, won NL Rookie of the Year, and finished third in the NL Cy Young race. It’s hard to imagine Skenes being even better in 2025 — but he spent his winter adding a cutter and a sinker to his repertoire. He expects better — and it still might not be enough for the Pirates to snap their nine-year playoff drought.
The Pirates haven’t had many household names on their roster over the years, but Skenes is changing that. He also has the best chance at winning an award out of anyone this season, according to ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle.
The betting markets have designated Skenes as a fairly heavy favorite to win NL Cy Young honors and even have him tied for 10th in the MVP hierarchy. The latter is unlikely for any pitcher these days, but if anyone is capable of piling up the overwhelming numbers that would be needed to overtake Shohei Ohtani and the rest, it’s Skenes. If there is any concern about Skenes beyond the fact that he’s chosen for himself the perilous occupation of throwing a baseball, it’s that expectations for his sophomore season are stratospheric. This kind of hype has never been a problem for Skenes before, though. The expectations were there a year ago and … Skenes’ rookie season numbers, prorated to 162 games, were 16-4 with 251 strikeouts, 0.947 WHIP, 8.7 bWAR. And what if he’s actually gotten better?
Doolittle’s colleague David Schofield thinks he could also win the Cy Young, but he’s willing to go even further when it comes to Skenes’ success this season.
The Pirates have had only two Cy Young winners — Vern Law in 1960 and Doug Drabek in 1990, neither of which were particularly historic seasons (both clock in at 4.2 WAR, low for a Cy Young winner). Predicting Skenes to win the Cy Young isn’t exactly bold, so let’s go with this: Skenes has the best season ever for a Pirates starter, at least in the lively ball era. The best marks since 1920 are John Candelaria’s 7.4 WAR (1977), Bob Veale’s 2.05 ERA (1968) and Veale’s 276 strikeouts (1965). Skenes could top all three of those marks.
BD community, what do you think of Skenes’ chances of breaking out this season? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.