Another award for the young Bucs pitcher.
It was a pretty good year for Pittsburgh Pirates rookie hurler Paul Skenes. It was just announced that Skenes was named the Baseball Digest Rookie of the Year. It’s Skenes’ second such honor this offseason, after also being named Rookie of the Year by Baseball America. Skenes received 9 out of a possible 11 first-place votes by the publication. The other two went to Jackson Merrill of the San Diego Padres.
Skenes finished the season with an 11-3 record, a 1.96 ERA, 170 strikeouts, and 0.95 WHIP in 23 starts. The ERA was the best mark in the Major Leagues, and he was the NL starting pitcher in the MLB All-Star game. It was truly a tour de force of a rookie season.
The AL winner was New York Yankees pitcher Luis Gil, who went 15-7 with a 3.50 ERA with 171 strikeouts and a 1.19 WHIP in 29 starts for the AL champs. Gil snagged six first-place votes, with Baltimore Orioles outfielder Colton Cowser and Oakland Athletics closer Mason Miller finishing with three and two votes respectively.
Hopefully, this is just another in what will be a long line of awards for the Bucs pitcher.
You can catch Skenes and his girlfriend Livvy Dunne this week on ESPN’s College Gameday. They’ve been invited on as this week’s guest pickers.
Congrats, Paul!