Of all of Paul Skenes' strengths as a ballplayer, his adaptability and ability to learn from his errors might be his greatest skills. It can apply away from the mound, too. After a year of hearing jokes and seeing the memes of his deadpan reaction to winning Rookie of the Year in 2024, this time, he made sure to smile Wednesday when he was named the National League Cy Young Award winner.
"Was it better this year?" Skenes asked with a grin.
Skenes was unanimously voted as the top pitcher in the NL by the Baseball Writers' Association of America, earning all 30 first-place votes. Phillies lefty Cristopher Sánchez finished second (with 30 second-place votes), and Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Dodgers finished third.
Skenes is the third Pirate to win the award, joining Vern Law (1960) and Doug Drabek (1990), who announced Skenes' win on MLB Network. Skenes is the only one of that trio to be a unanimous selection.
“Winning it is one thing. It being a unanimous decision is another,” Skenes said. “It’s pretty special. The Cy Young Award is the Cy Young Award. Every baseball fan knows it. I’ve had a month to think about it now, after the season ended and what would it mean. That’s the answer I’ve come upon, is that it doesn’t change anything about the season that I had whether I win it or not. Same way I thought about the Rookie of the Year Award last year. It’s a tremendous honor, but we play this game because we love the game. We love to pitch and to win.”
It was the final destination of perhaps the greatest season for a pitcher in the Modern Era of the franchise, as well as the best in the National League this year. Skenes’ 1.97 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 2.36 FIP and 217 ERA+ were all tops in the National League, as he went 10-10 over 187 2/3 innings over his 32 starts, one of which was a complete game. His 216 strikeouts tied Philadelphia's Jesús Luzardo for the second-most in the NL (behind Logan Webb's 224 with the Giants), and he was one of eight pitchers across baseball who qualified for the ERA title while also holding hitters to a batting average at or below the Mendoza line (.200).
Skenes, who finished third in last year’s NL Cy Young Award voting, is the second pitcher to win the award the year after he was named NL Rookie of the Year, duplicating Dwight Gooden’s feat for the Mets in 1984 and ‘85. Fernando Valenzuela is the only pitcher to win both awards in the same season, in 1981 with the Dodgers.
For many, being awarded the game’s highest pitching honor would be cause for a victory lap. But in case you haven’t paid attention the last two years, Skenes doesn’t always go with the grain.
“The recognition is great. It's temporary,” Skenes said. “It's about advancing the game, making the game better. Making the Pittsburgh Pirates jersey that I'm wearing better. From the time I got here to the time I leave. We're stewards of the game. We're stewards of the city of Pittsburgh. It's a whole lot bigger than all of us and everybody needs to realize that.
“The six-year-old who's playing t-ball is a steward of the game too. We're making the game better for him or her. We need to realize that.”
Much of Skenes’ Zoom call with local media centered around his desire to win a championship with the Pirates, not just a Cy Young Award. Winning the award wasn’t even really on the radar for him, and he was thankful that even though his teammates knew it was a distinct possibility, they didn’t broach the subject with him.
Ever since he was drafted 28 months ago, Skenes’ goal has been to win a World Series in Pittsburgh. To do that, he wants to channel some of the culture of his adopted home.
“It's such an interesting city, such an interesting character, and that needs to be our identity coming into next year, I believe,” Skenes said. “Whatever identity is what it is, but that’s kind of what I think we need to to get back to, that gritty, blue-collar personality that Pittsburgh is. I'm going to push for that. I know there are others that are going to push for that, and then whoever's new to the organization, they're going to realize real quick. But that's what the goal is. I wish it were February 10 already, or whatever spring training reporting date is, because I'm incredibly excited to do this and to push in this direction for next year.”