The Pittsburgh Pirates have had a rough patch of baseball over the last few years as they missed the playoffs for the 9th straight year in 2024.
After finishing with a record of 76 wins and 86 losses, the Pirates had their sixth straight losing season.
While the team as a whole was disappointing, there was a bright spot in the Pirates lineup.
According to MLB Network’s “X,” Paul Skenes is a finalist for both the National League Rookie of the Year and the National League Cy Young Award.
MLB analyst Ron Darling said of Skenes. “This is the next great thing.”
“This is the next big thing.”
Paul Skenes is both the NL Rookie of the Year and a finalist for the NL Cy Young. 🤯@Pirates: |: @officialBBWAA: pic.twitter.com/3FzwJCYRvR
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) November 12, 2024
Skenes made his first season with the Pirates in 2024 and started 23 games for the club.
In those 23 starts, Skenes has 11 wins and three losses with a 1.96 ERA and 170 strikeouts in 133.0 innings.
Skenes is a finalist for both the NL ROY Award and the NL Cy Young Award, which shows how dominant he was during his rookie campaign.
Darling believes Skenes is MLB’s next great pitcher and notes that his fastball averages over 98 miles per hour.
The Pirates haven’t had much to get excited about in recent history, but Skenes could change all that if he can stay healthy.
Since winning the World Series in 1979, the Pirates have made the playoffs just six times, and they haven’t won a division title since 1992.
All eyes will be on Skenes next season to see if he can repeat the dominant season he put together in 2024.
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Paul Skenes reveals which NFL team he plays for
