Growing Belief Pirates' Paul Skenes Lands Rookie Award
As time inches closer to the winner of the National League Rookie of the Year being revealed, more signs point toward Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes being the one to earn the accolade.
ESPN had nine people vote on the award and Skenes took home NL Rookie of the Year by earning eight of the votes. San Diego Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill earned the other first-place vote. Skenes, Merrill and Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio are the three finalists for the NL Rookie of the Year.
The winner will be announced on Monday at 6 p.m. ET on MLB Network.
"Skenes is baseball's ascendant ace," ESPN's Bradford Doolittle writes. "Few pitchers have reached the majors with higher expectations in recent years. He met the hype head-on and, if anything, proved to be even better than we thought."
Should Skenes win, he would be the first pitcher in Pirates history to earn the accolade and their first rookie to win the award since outfielder Jason Bay won it in 2004. Skenes is also a finalist for the NL Cy Young Award, though, he didn't receive a vote in ESPN's poll. Atlanta Braves lefty Chris Sale received eight votes compared to just one for Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Zack Wheeler.
Skenes is the first pitcher to be a finalist for the award since Jose Fernandez of the Miami Marlins in 2013 and is just the fifth pitcher in MLB history to be in the top three for both awards. Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander, the late great Fernando Valenzuela, is the only pitcher to win both when he accomplished the feat in 1981.
The Pirates star was also the first rookie pitcher to start an All-Star game since Hideo Nomo of the Dodgers in 1995.
Skenes was as advertised and arguably even better after entering the big leagues as the most hyped pitching prospect since Stephen Strasburg of the Washington Nationals in 2010. The 2023 first-overall pick went 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA over his 23 starts and he set a Pirates rookie record with 170 strikeouts.
Pittsburgh's ace was also the first pitcher in MLB history to have an ERA below 2.20 and over 150 strikeouts in their first 21 games and the second pitcher since 1913 to have an ERA below 2.00 through their first 22 appearances.
