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Paul Skenes earns Pirates honor never won by a pitcher
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- Paul Skenes earns Pirates honor never won by a pitcher
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The post Paul Skenes earns Pirates honor never won by a pitcher appeared first on ClutchPoints .
The Pittsburgh Pirates may not have reached the postseason since 2015, but the rise of Paul Skenes has provided a rare bright spot for the franchise. Selected first overall in the 2023 MLB Draft, the 23-year-old right-hander has quickly developed into one of baseball's most premier pitchers.
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Paul Skenes broke new ground before Pittsburgh squared off against the Athletics on Friday, becoming the first pitcher in franchise history that the Pittsburgh BBWAA named team MVP and taking home the Roberto Clemente Award. He followed it up by claiming back-to-back Steve Blass Awards.
Since the introduction of the Steve Blass Award in 2012, no Pirates pitcher had ever won the Clemente Award until Skenes, according to Alex Stumpf of MLB.com. The last pitcher overall to be named team MVP was Joel Hanrahan in 2011.
Outfielder Tommy Pham finished second in voting for the 2025 Clemente Award, with Bryan Reynolds and Dennis Santana tying for third. Mitch Keller placed second in the Blass Award race, followed by Santana.
On the mound, Skenes has written a season that speaks louder than numbers, a benchmark in the Pirates' long history. Across 31 starts, he owns a 10–10 record, an MLB-best 2.03 ERA, and 209 strikeouts in 181 2/3 innings. His 7.4 bWAR leads the National League, while opposing hitters have been held to a .199/.253/.310 slash line. He has also posted a 0.96 WHIP, 10.35 strikeouts per nine innings, 2.08 walks per nine, and a 4.98 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
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By the numbers, Skenes ranks among the league's best. He leads all pitchers in ERA and WAR, sits third in strikeouts, fourth in WHIP, seventh in innings pitched, and eighth in batting average allowed. He also recorded his 200th strikeout on September 10 against the Baltimore Orioles , becoming just the sixth pitcher in the live-ball era (since 2020) to reach that milestone in a season. In franchise history, he is one strikeout shy of tying Mitch Keller's single-season record for a right-hander, set in 2023.
Skenes has already achieved several notable distinctions in only his second season. He became the first pitcher in MLB history to start the All-Star Game in each of his first two seasons and remains the frontrunner for the 2025 National League Cy Young Award . In 2024, he claimed the NL Rookie of the Year title, earned All-MLB First Team honors, and took third place in Cy Young voting.
Skenes has shown he's sharpening himself on and off the field, but he keeps hammering home that it's team success that really counts. Pittsburgh, who field one of MLB's lowest payrolls at $50.7 million, will enter 2026 with Skenes anchoring a rotation that could also feature Bubba Chandler , Braxton Ashcraft , Mike Burrows , and a healthy Jared Jones . Three years of team control may sound like breathing room, but for the Pirates, it's decision time on committing to their ace and most valuable player.
Related: How Pirates' Konnor Griffin rose to Prospect of the Year winner, per Keith Law
Related: Will any pitchers upset Paul Skenes for NL Cy Young?
