Paul David Skenes...Is a 2020 graduate of El Toro (Calif.) High School, where he was a three-year letterwinner and team captain in 2020...Attended the Air Force (Col.) Academy from 2021-22, where he was named the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year in 2022 (he was a pitcher and a catcher)...Was also the 2021 Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year and the 2022 MWC Co-Pitcher of the Year...Was a member of Cadet Squadron 9 (had two uncles serve in the Navy and one serve in the Coast Guard)...Transferred to Louisiana State University (2023), where he was the Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Year and the Dick Howser Trophy winner after going 13-2 with a 1.69 ERA (122.2 IP/23 ER), an SEC-record 209 strikeouts and a .165 batting average against across his 19 starts...Was the 2023 College World Series' Most Outstanding Player after recording a 1.15 ERA & having 21 strikeouts across his two starts for the national-champion Tigers....Became the first LSU player to be selected No. 1 overall since Ben McDonald (by Baltimore) in the 1989 Draft...Was one of three players featured on the cover of the 2025 edition of "MLB The Show," along with Cincinnati's Elly De La Cruz and Baltimore's Gunnar Henderson...Pledged to donate $100 to the Gary Sinise Foundation, which supports our nation's defenders, veterans, first responders, their families, and those in need, for every strikeout during the 2025 season (he also raised $500,000 for the foundation at a Raising Cane's event in North Palm Beach, Fla., on 2025 Veterans Day)...Was signed by Pirates scout Wayne Mathis.
2025
Made his first career Opening Day roster and was the team's starter in the season opener on 3/27 at Miami...Became Pittsburgh's youngest Opening Day starter (22 years and 302 days) since Frank Killen (22 years and 148 days) in 1893...Was also the youngest Opening Day starter in Major League Baseball since Miami's José Fernández (21 years and 243 days) in 2014...Became the fastest No. 1 overall pick to make an Opening Day start, surpassing Seattle's Mike Moore (No. 1 pick in 1981, Opening Day starter in 1984) and Washington's Stephen Strasburg (No. 1 pick in 2009, Opening Day starter in 2012)...Allowed an unearned run and struck out six batters over 7.0 innings while earning his first win (in his 25th Major League start) on 4/2 at Tampa Bay... Posted a 1.92 ERA (145.1 IP/31 ER) and 183 strikeouts through his first 25 Major League starts (5/11/24 to 4/2), making him the only Major League pitcher since earned runs became an official stat in both leagues in 1913 to have a sub-2.00 ERA and at least 175 strikeouts through his first 25 Major League games...Threw a career-high 108 pitches and struck out nine batters over 6.1 scoreless innings (earned his third win) on 4/25 at Los Angeles (NL)...Tossed an 8.0-inning complete game (his first career complete game) in 1-0 loss on 5/18 at Philadelphia...Made five straight starts of at least 6.0 innings and seven strikeouts, while also allowing one or zero runs, from 5/18-6/8, the longest streak by a Pirates pitcher in the Modern Era (since 1901), snapping his own streak from 6/11-29, 2024...Posted a 0.76 ERA (47.1IP/4 ER) over a seven-start stretch from 5/12-6/13...Pitched 5.0 scoreless innings and had a season-high 10 strikeouts on 7/6 at Seattle...Joined Bob Veale (9/23/66 at Atlanta), Larry McWilliams (9/20/83 at New York), Mitch Keller (5/14/23 at Baltimore) and Jared Jones (5/4/24 vs. Colorado) as the only Pirates pitchers in the Modern Era to strike out at least 10 batters while allowing zero runs and zero walks in an appearance...Was named to the National League All-Star team for the second consecutive season during his 7/6 start...Joined Rip Sewell (1943-44, 1946) and Bob Veale (1965-66) as the only starting pitchers in team history to be selected to the All-Star Game in at least two straight seasons (there was no All-Star Game in 1945)...Also became the first Pirate to be selected to the All-Star Game in each of his first two Major League seasons (was the first Major Leaguer to do that since Texas' Yu Darvish did it in his first three seasons from 2012-14)...Recorded his 300th Major League strikeout (Matt Wallner) in his 43rd Major League start on 7/11 at Minnesota...Became the first Pirates pitcher and one of 17 Major League pitchers all-time with at least 300 strikeouts through his first 43 starts...Made his second consecutive start for the National League in the All-Star Game on 7/15 at Atlanta's Truist Park (struck out two of three batters he faced)...Became the first pitcher and one of only five players in Major League history to start the All-Star Game in each of his first two seasons, joining Joe DiMaggio (seven, 1936-42), Ichiro Suzuki (four, 2001-04), Rod Carew (three, 1967-69) and Frank Robinson (two, 1956-57)...Had a 0.67 ERA (27.0 IP/2 ER), 36 strikeouts and a 0.89 WHIP over five July starts...Was named the National League's Pitcher of the Month for July...Became the eighth different Pirate (10th instance) to win the monthly award, the first since Iván Nova in April 2017...Posted the fifth-lowest ERA in a calendar month (minimum 25.0 innings) by a Pittsburgh pitcher during the Live Ball Era (since 1920), trailing Bob Moose (0.34) in September 1975, Dock Ellis (0.63) in September 1972, Jim Nelson (0.64) in June 1970 and Zane Smith (0.66) in September 1990...Had a career-high, 18.0-inning scoreless streak from 7/11-8/2 (trailed only Andrew Heaney's 19.1-inning streak from 4/12-29 for the longest scoreless streak by a Pirates pitcher during the season)...Allowed more than six hits in a start for the first time in his career (47th start) when he allowed seven hits on 8/7 vs. Cincinnati...Was the longest streak of allowing six hits or fewer in a start to begin a career by any Major League pitcher (excluding openers) in the Modern Era (the previous record was held by Los Angeles-AL's Shohei Ohtani, who did it in his first 31 starts from 2018-21)...Was also tied with San Diego's Dinelson Lamet (7/29/2017-6/26/2021) for the second-longest streak by any Major League starter (excluding openers) in the Modern Era, trailing only New York (AL)/Cincinnati's Sonny Gray (48 starts) from 8/25/2018-5/5/2021...Also snapped a 41-start streak of not having more hits allowed than innings pitched (since 6/11/24 at St. Louis), the longest streak by any Major League pitcher in the Modern Era (next-closest pitcher was Detroit's Hal Newhouser, who did it in 29 straight starts in 1945)...Made five straight home starts without allowing an earned run from 6/8-8/7, the longest streak of home starts without allowing an earned run by a Pirate since earned runs became an official stat...Also made four straight home starts from 7/1-8/7 where he pitched at least 5.0 scoreless innings, allowed one or zero walks and struck out at least five batters, tying him with Chicago (NL)'s Jake Arrieta (8/20-9/27, 2015) for the longest home streak by any Major League pitcher in a single season in the Modern Era...Allowed a leadoff home run to Sal Frelick on 8/12 at Milwaukee, ending his streak of 24 straight starts without allowing a first-inning run to begin the season...Was the second-longest streak to begin a season in Major League history, trailing only New York (AL)'s Bob Shawkey (27 starts) in 1923 (per Elias)... Also snapped a streak of 29 straight starts without allowing a first-inning run, dating back to 9/3/24 at Chicago (NL)...Trailed only Rick Rhoden (32 starts, 1982-83) for the longest streak by any Pirates pitcher since at least 1893 (per Elias)...Tossed 29.2 straight scoreless innings at PNC Park from 6/8 vs. Philadelphia (fourth inning) to 8/18 vs. Toronto (second inning)...Tossed 7.0 scoreless innings in his 50th Major League start on 8/24 vs. Colorado...Posted the second-lowest ERA by any Major League pitcher in his first 50 career starts during the Live Ball Era, behind only Oakland's Vida Blue (2.01) from 1969-72...Was the team's nominee for the national Roberto Clemente Award (nominated on Roberto Clemente Day, 9/15)...Recorded his 211th strikeout in the second inning of his final start on 9/24 at Cincinnati (Spencer Steer), setting the franchise record for most strikeouts by a right-handed pitcher in a single season, passing Mitch Keller's 210 strikeouts during the 2023 season...Finished the season with 216 strikeouts, the fifth-most in a single season in franchise history (since 1887)...Made 12 scoreless starts, the most in a single season by a Pittsburgh pitcher during the Modern Era, passing Trevor Williams (11) in 2018...Was the recipient of the Roberto Clemente Award (Team MVP) and the Steve Blass Award (Best Pitcher), as voted on by the Pittsburgh chapter of the BBWAA, after becoming the third Pirates pitcher since earned runs became an official stat to post a sub-2.00 ERA, joining Wilbur Cooper (1.87) in 1916 and Babe Adams (1.98) in 1919...Led Major League Baseball in ERA, becoming the first Pittsburgh pitcher to do that since John Candelaria (2.34) in 1977...Was the unanimous winner of the National League Cy Young Award, joining Vernon Law (1960) and Doug Drabek (1990) as the only Pirates to ever win the Award...Led the National League in WHIP (0.95) and ranked tied for second in strikeouts, as well as fourth in innings pitched and batting average against...Joined New York (NL)'s Dwight Gooden (1984-85) as the only pitchers in Major League history to win the Rookie of the Year Award and the Cy Young Award in consecutive seasons...Also finished sixth in National League MVP voting...Was also named to the All-Major League Baseball First Team, in addition to being named the Major League Baseball Players' Choice National League Outstanding Pitcher...Has posted a 1.96 ERA (320.2 IP/70 ER) through the first 55 starts of his Major League career, joining Pittsburgh's Al Mamaux (1.96, 1914-16) and Boston (AL)'s Ernie Shore (1.96, 1914-16) as the only pitchers since earned runs became an official statistic to have a sub-2.00 ERA through the first 55 starts of a career... Also joined Howie Camnitz (1908-09) and Babe Adams (1909, 1919) as the only Pirates pitchers in team history to record multiple seasons with a sub-2.00 ERA and at least 130.0 innings pitched...Became only the fifth Major League pitcher during the Live Ball Era to post back-to-back seasons with a sub-2.00 ERA at any point in their careers (minimum 20 starts), along with Detroit's Newhouser (1945-46), Los Angeles' Sandy Koufax (1963-64), Atlanta's Greg Maddux (1994-95) and Los Angeles (NL)'s Clayton Kershaw (2013-14).
2024
Was selected to his first All-Star team; the first Pirates rookie pitcher to ever be named to an All-Star Game, and the first Pirates rookie to get the nod since Tony Womack in 1997 (fourth Bucco rookie overall)...Became the first-ever No. 1 overall pick to make the All-Star Game the season after his draft year...Was named the N.L. Rookie-of-the-Year by the BBWAA; just the second Pirates player to win the award (also Jason Bay in 2004)...Was also named Baseball America’s Rookie-of-the-Year; the second Pirates player to win the honor (also Andrew McCutchen in 2009)... Was named the unanimous winner of the Steve Blass Award (team’s top pitcher) by the local chapter of the BBWAA... Ranked first among all qualified N.L. rookies in ERA, batting average against and WHIP (0.95); tied for second in wins and ranked second in strikeouts and winning percentage (.786)... Was a non-roster invitee during Spring Training, where he went 0-0 with a 3.00 ERA (3.0ip/3h/1r/1er/0bb/3so) in two games (one start)...Started the MLB Spring Breakout game on 3/14 and pitched a scoreless inning (two Ks)...Began regular season with Indianapolis...Made his first start on 3/30 at Louisville and pitched 3.0 perfect innings with five strikeouts (46 pitches)...Had his streak of 13.2 scoreless innings snapped in his fifth start on 4/24 at Omaha, after allowing two runs (one earned) in 4.1ip (71 pitches)...Pitched on four day’s rest for the first time as a pro when he made his start on 5/5 vs. Buffalo; surrendered his first home run and two runs total in 4.1ip while throwing 66 pitches (no-decision)...Was selected to the Major League roster on 5/11; at the time of his promotion, he had the seventh-lowest ERA (0.99) among all full-season minor leaguers and ranked first in the International League in ERA and WHIP (0.91) and third in strikeouts (45) and batting average against (.175)...Made his big league debut on 5/11 vs. Chicago (NL) and was charged with three runs in 4.0+ innings of work while striking out seven (he left the game with a 6-1 lead after allowing the first two runners to reach base in the fifth)...Threw 17 pitches 100 mph or faster in the game on 5/11, including a 101.9 mph pitch that was the fastest recorded by a Pirates pitcher in the pitch tracking era (since 2008)...Those 17 pitches were also the most registered by a starting pitcher in a game in 2024...His seven strikeouts in his debut were the second-most by a Pirates starter 21 years old or younger in their Major League debut, behind only Nick Maddox, who struck out 11 in his MLB debut at age 20...Made his Major League debut just 307 days after being selected No. 1 overall in the 2023 draft, making him the quickest top pick to reach the Majors in 35 years (RHP Ben McDonald of the Orioles made it to the Majors in 1989 in the same year he was drafted)...The last Pittsburgh player to make his MLB debut within a year of being drafted was Barry Bonds (Bonds was drafted in 1985 and made his big league debut in 1986)…Made his second start on 5/17 at Chicago (NL) and struck out 11 batters without allowing a hit in 6.0ip to earn his first Major League win...Became the first Pittsburgh pitcher to strike out 11 batters in a game at Wrigley Field in Pittsburgh’s 1,017th game there...Became the first Pittsburgh pitcher to strike out the first seven batters of a game, two shy of the Major League record of nine set by Miami’s Pablo Lopez on July 11, 2021... Prior to that, German Marquez (Sept. 26, 2018), Jacob deGrom (Sept. 15, 2014) and Jim DeShaies (Sept. 23, 1986) had each recorded a game of eight consecutive strikeouts to open a game...Became just the fourth Pirates pitcher to strike out at least 10 in a game before his 22nd birthday; joining Bob Moose (four times), Nick Maddox and John Candelaria, who was the most recent pitcher to do so in 1975...Became the fourth rookie pitcher all-time to record an outing of 6.0+ IP, 0 hits allowed and 10+ strikeouts and the first since Chris Heston’s no-hitter on June 9, 2015 vs. New York (NL); Houston’s Don Wilson (June 18, 1967 vs. Atlanta) and Texas’ Jim Bibby (July 30, 1973 at Oakland) were both nine-inning no-hitters as well...Gave up one run in 6IP and left with 5-1 lead, but had a no-decision on 5/23 vs. San Francisco (Giants scored five runs in the eighth)...Allowed two runs and whiffed nine batters in 6.0ip while winning his second game on 5/29 at Detroit (Game 2)...Produced two games with 9+ strikeouts and three or fewer hits within his first four Major League appearances, joining Bobby Witt in 1986 and Freddy Peralta in 2018 as the only pitchers since 1900 to accomplish this feat...His nine strikeouts on 5/29 also came on his 22nd birthday; the Pirates franchise record for most strikeouts by a pitcher on their birthday (previous high was eight by Vic Lombardi on Sept. 20, 1949)...Improved to 3-0 with a victory over the Dodgers at PNC Park on 6/5 (5.0ip/3er - 93 pitches)...Became the fourth pitcher in Pirates history to win at least three of his first five career starts and have 30 or more strikeouts; the others were Nick Maddox (1907), Cy Blanton (1934) and John Candelaria (1975)...Struck out eight batters while pitching 6.1 scoreless innings (103 pitches) in a no-decision on 6/11 at St. Louis...Became the second MLB pitcher since 1901 to have 45-plus strikeouts and six or less walks over his first six career appearances, joining Masahiro Tanaka with the Yankees in 2014...Also became the first Pirates pitcher since Jose DeLeon (July 23 to August 15, 1983) to start his career with three wins in his first six starts and record 45 or more strikeouts...Improved to 4-0 with a victory over the Reds at PNC Park on 6/17 (6.0ip/1er - 96 pitches)... Gave up one run and struck out eight in 7.0ip, but had a no-decision on 6/23 vs. Tampa Bay...With 61 strikeouts and eight walks through his first eight appearances, became the only National League pitcher since 1901 to record 60+ strikeouts and fewer than 10 walks through his first eight career appearances; the only other Major League pitcher to accomplish this feat was Masahiro Tanaka of the Yankees in 2014 (66 strikeouts, seven walks)...Gave up one run and struck out nine batters in 6IP, but had a no-decision on 6/29 at Atlanta...Became the first pitcher in Major League history to strike out 70 batters and allow fewer than 12 runs in his first nine games...Gave up two runs in 7IP and won his fifth decision on 7/5 vs. New York (NL)...Recorded seven or more strikeouts in nine of his first 10 career outings, setting the Major League record for most such games within a player’s first 10 career games...Threw seven no-hit innings and struck out 11 batters while winning his sixth decision on 7/11 at Milwaukee; was removed after throwing 99 pitches...Joined Nolan Ryan in 1973 as the only pitchers in MLB history to have two starts in the same season with at least 11 strikeouts over six-or-more no-hit innings...Became one of only four pitchers since 1893 with 10 strikeouts and zero hits allowed in multiple outings in a single season (also Nolan Ryan in 1973, Max Scherzer in 2015 and Justin Verlander in 2022)...Entered the All-Star break with a 6-0 record, a 1.90 ERA (66.1ip/14er), 0.92 WHIP, 89 strikeouts and 13 walks in 11 starts; the strikeout total is the fifth-most in MLB history (since 1901) through 11 starts...Started the All-Star Game on 7/16 at Texas; threw 16 pitches while retiring three of the four batters he faced... Became one of five rookie pitchers to start the All-Star Game, joining Hideo Nomo (1995), Fernando Valenzuela (1981), Mark Fidrych (1976) and Dave Stenhouse (1962)...His 11 starts prior to the break matched Mark Fidrych in 1976 for the fewest in a career entering an All-Star start (Fidrych also made two relief appearances)...Suffered his first loss on 7/23 vs. St. Louis after giving up two runs in 8.1ip and dropping a 2-1 decision; the longest start by a Pittsburgh rookie since Zach Duke went 8.1 innings on Aug. 1, 2005...Won each of his first six decisions - the first Bucco starting pitcher to do so since Zach Duke in 2005 (Emil Yde has the “record” of seven straight in 1924)...Also set Pirates mark for most starts (11) before suffering first career loss (since mound was moved to current distance in 1893)...Pitched 9.0 consecutive hitless innings over two starts on 7/11 (7IP) and 7/23 (2IP)... Struck out seven or more batters in nine consecutive starts from 5/29 thru 7/23 - a franchise record...The nine-game streak matched the MLB record for a rookie, done by both Dwight Gooden with the Mets in 1984 and Brandon Beachy with the Braves in 2011...Gave up two runs (one earned) in 6IP on 7/29 at Houston (no-decision)...Struck out his 100th career batter in his 13th start on 7/29; just the sixth player all-time since 1893 to reach 100 strikeouts in 13 or fewer games and the first since Masahiro Tanaka did so in 2014... Left the game on 8/4 vs. Arizona with a 4-1 lead and a runner on base in the sixth inning, but had a no-decision (5.1ip/2er - 100 pitches)...Posted a 1.99 ERA after 14 starts, making him one of five players in Pirates franchise history to have a sub-2.00 ERA through 14 starts with the team...Walked a career-high four batters and gave up two runs in 6IP while winning his seventh game and snapping Pittsburgh’s 10-game losing streak on 8/16 vs. Seattle...Struck out nine batters over six scoreless innings while winning his eighth game on 8/22 vs. Cincinnati...Gave up three runs (two earned) in 5IP and left with 10-3 lead, but had a no-decision on 8/28 vs. Chicago (NL)...Tied Cy Blanton’s franchise record from 1935 for most strikeouts by a rookie in a season since 1900 (142) while winning his ninth decision on 9/3 at Chicago (NL)...Also matched career high with four walks...Won his 10th game while striking out nine batters and allowing one run in 6.0ip on 9/9 vs. Miami - also set the club rookie record for most K’s in a season...Became the fifth pitcher in MLB history to have 150 or more strikeouts within his first 20 starts, joining Kerry Wood (17 starts), Hideo Nomo (17), Dwight Gooden (19) and Mark Prior (20)...Gave up one run and struck out seven batters in 6.0ip, but suffered his third loss on 9/16 at St. Louis...Became the first pitcher in MLB history to have a sub-2.20 ERA and 150-plus strikeouts in their first 21 games...Gave up two hits and struck out nine batters in five scoreless innings while winning his 11th game on 9/22 at Cincinnati... Became the first pitcher in the Modern Era with 150 strikeouts and an ERA under 2.00 in his first 22 career games...Since the earned run became an official stat in 1913, the only pitcher to record a lower ERA than that over their first 22 appearances that were all starts was Steve Rogers in 1973-74 (1.95)...Made his final start on 9/28 at New York (AL) and retired all six batters he faced...Led all qualified rookies in the month of September with an 0.75 ERA and 34 strikeouts, while ranking fourth in batting average against (.186) and fifth in WHIP (0.92)...Was named the N.L. Rookie-of-the-Month for September...Became the first rookie pitcher to make at least 23 starts and post a sub-2.00 ERA in a single season since Scott Perry with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1918 (1.98 ERA in 44 games/36 starts)...Posted the lowest ERA in all of MLB after making his debut on 5/11...His .198 batting average against was the lowest by a Pirates starting pitcher in team history (minimum: 16 starts)...His 1.96 ERA was the lowest recorded by a Major League rookie pitcher (min: 18 starts) in the Live Ball Era (since 1920).
2023
Threw a total of 6.2 innings in a combined five starts between the Florida Complex League Pirates, Low-A Bradenton and Double-A Altoona after being selected No. 1 overall in the draft earlier in the summer… Tossed 1.0 scoreless inning in his professional debut against the Florida Complex League Twins on 8/10…Was promoted to Low-A Bradenton on 8/15, where he threw 11 of his 16 pitches for strikes in his start that night vs. Lakeland in 1.0 scoreless inning…Faced a total of eight batters in 2.0 scoreless innings in his second start with Bradenton on 8/20 vs. Lakeland…Was promoted to Altoona on 8/21… Was scored upon for the only time after allowing four runs on three hits in 0.2 inning in his Curve debut on 8/26 vs. Akron…Struck out three of the seven batters he faced in 2.0 scoreless innings in his final start on 9/1 at Erie.
