Pirates' Paul Skenes Falls to Third in Rookie Race
PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh Pirates right-handed pitcher Paul Skenes is one of the best in baseball his first season at the MLB level, but he has fierce competition from other rookies in the National League.
San Diego Padres outfielder Jackson Merrill and Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio both are fighting to win the National League Rookie of the Year and they each have a good chance of doing so.
Merrill is hitting .291, with 140 hits in 481 at-bats, plus 21 home runs, 79 RBIs, 22 doubles, six triples, 16 stolen bases and 24 walks to 91 strikeouts. He also has a .323 on-base percentage, .491 slugging percentage and an OPS of .816.
Chourio has hit .280, with 123 hits in 440 at-bats, along with 23 doubles, two triples, 19 home runs, 69 RBIs, 20 stolen bases and 32 walks to 96 strikeouts, giving him a .331 on-base percentage, plus a .470 slugging percentage and a .802 OPS.
The two players started off the season with their respective teams, which is different from Skenes, who the Pirates called up from Triple-A Indianapolis on May 11.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic in his latest "The Windup Newsletter" spoke on the great play of Merrill and Chourio after June 1. Merrill has hit .298 and 18 home runs and has an OPS of .902, while Chourio has hit .320 and 14 home runs, with an OPS of .929 since that day, putting them both in coversation for NL Rookie of the Year.
Skenes has dominated as well since his call-up, with a 9-2 record in 19 starts, a 2.13 ERA in 114.0 innings pitched, 142 strikeouts to 30 walks, holding hitters to a .201 batting average, along with a 0.98 WHIP and a 11.21 K/9.
Rosenthal wrote that Skenes coming up later than both Merilll and Chourio may hurt him in the race for the National League Rookie of the Year. So too, may him only pitching five innings his past two games and not more than six innings since July 23.
Coming down to the three players, Rosenthal predicts that the National Baseball Writers of America (NBWA) may choose to go with the every day position players over the pitcher in Skenes.
"A number of other NL rookies also warrant consideration, but the race likely will come down to Merrill, Chourio and Skenes," Rosenthal wrote. "Again, the whole thing is rather amazing. As good as Skenes has been, as much of an impact as he made on his team and his sport, he might only be the third-best rookie in his league."
