Pirates' Paul Skenes Wins NL Rookie of the Year
Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes delivered a historic rookie season and now he has some hardware to back it up.
Skenes won the Baseball Writers Association of America National League Rookie of the Year on Monday, beating out San Diego Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill and Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio. With the win, Skenes is the first pitcher in Pirates history to win the Rookie of the Year and just the second player to accomplish the feat, joining outfielder Jason Bay in 2004.
The Pirates star was nothing short of special upon arriving in the big leagues on May 11. Skenes went 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA over 23 starts and set a franchise rookie record with 170 strikeouts over his 133 innings pitched.
The 2023 first overall pick in the MLB Draft was 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. Skenes was also the first rookie pitcher to start in the All-Star game since Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Hideo Nomo in 1995.
Skenes is also a finalist for the NL Cy Young Award, alongside Atlanta Braves left-hander Chris Sale and Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Zack Wheeler. The winner will be announced on Wednesday on MLB Network at 6 p.m. ET.
Skenes is the first pitcher to be in the top three for Rookie of the Year and the Cy Young award since Jose Fernandez of the Miami Marlins in 2013. Only three other pitchers in MLB history have been in the top three for both awards alongside Skenes and Fernandez.
If Skenes were to also win the NL CY Young, he'd be just the second player to win both awards, joining Dodgers left-hander Fernando Valenzuela in 1981.
