Paul Skenes Delivers Brilliance Amid 2025 Season Of Anemic Run Support

Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes delivers during the second inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

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Pittsburgh Pirates right-handed pitcher Paul Skenes closed the book on a brilliant 2025 season and is the favorite to win the National League Cy Young Award amid anemic run support. After pitching six shutout innings against the Cincinnati Reds in his final start on September 24th, Skenes finished his sophomore campaign with a microscopic 1.97 earned run average over 187.2 innings. According to Sarah Langs of MLB.com, Skenes is the first qualified pitcher to post an earned run average below 2.00 in his age-23 season or younger since New York Mets right-handed pitcher Dwight Gooden achieved this feat in 1985 with a 1.53 earned run average. Skenes also became the single-season strikeout leader (216) among right-handed pitchers in franchise history.

Since making his major league debut in May 2024, Skenes has dominated opponents with a diverse pitching repertoire and triple-digit velocities on four-seam fastballs. An endearing combination of old and new school sensibilities, the 23-year-old Skenes masterfully blends intelligence with humility while drawing comparisons to Hall of Fame right-handed pitcher Tom Seaver. Besides demonstrating a curiosity when it comes to analytics and biomechanics, Skenes’ mindset is predicated on subtle messages of fatherly advice when it comes to letting his body organize itself. He is the epitome of the modern-day pitcher, but that comes with both positive and negative connotations.

The Pirates have taken a cautious approach when managing Skenes’ workload given how the third plate appearance in a ball game has become a line of demarcation that is rarely crossed by a starting pitcher. In 55 career starts, Skenes pitched at least seven innings in a ball game on 10 occasions with only one complete game according to Baseball-Reference. He has averaged 5.8 innings pitched and 93 pitches per game started over the first two seasons of his career. Skenes has surpassed 100 pitches thrown in a ball game on 17 occasions with a career high of 108 occurring over 6.1 innings. Some have called it maximum pitching effort in short bursts with five innings or 100 pitches serving as guardrails.

Paul Skenes Is A Complete Pitcher

Skenes is deeply committed to being a complete pitcher rather than a thrower unlike most of his contemporaries who are solely infatuated with maximum velocity. Instead of embracing a bully’s mentality on the pitcher’s mound, Skenes is an artisan as evident in the “splinker,” a hybrid pitch that incorporates elements of a splitter and sinker. Analysts have marveled at Skenes’ pitching mechanics, especially his short stride to home plate and ability to throw multiple pitches out of the same arm slot. Along with a low arm angle of 23 degrees, Skenes is creating an optical illusion for hitters who believe his four-seam fastball elevates in the strike zone.

The first overall pick in Major League Baseball’s 2023 draft, Skenes received a $9.2 million signing bonus. Presently, there have only been two pitchers who were the first overall picks in the draft and have won a Cy Young Award: David Price and Gerrit Cole. Price, a left-handed pitcher who had a distinguished 14-year major league career, won the 2012 American League Cy Young Award while pitching for the Tampa Bay Rays during his age-26 season. Cole, a right-handed pitcher, won the 2023 American League Cy Young Award for the New York Yankees during his age-32 season.

A one-year, $875,000 contract for the 2025 season, Skenes is not eligible for arbitration until the conclusion of the 2026 season according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Free agency won’t occur until the conclusion of the 2029 season. It is a statement of fact to say Skenes’ compensation doesn’t align with his performance or value to Major League Baseball. FanGraphs’ calculation of wins above replacement (WAR) converted into a dollar scale puts Skenes’ value in what he would make in free agency this season at $51.8 million based on a 6.5 WAR.

Does Paul Skenes Have A Future In Pittsburgh?

While the rumblings are getting louder when it comes to the need for a salary cap in Major League Baseball, why aren’t ball clubs being held accountable for failing to produce competitive products after securing high-profile draft picks and once in a generation talents like Skenes? Fans are genuinely concerned that Skenes’ time in Pittsburgh will be short-lived as he will likely follow a similar path as Cole. The first overall pick in Major League Baseball’s 2011 draft, Cole received an $8 million signing bonus and made 127 starts over parts of five seasons for the Pirates before being traded in January 2018 to the Houston Astros. In his final season with the Pirates (2017), Cole avoided arbitration and earned $3.75 million while his value in free agency was $27.1 million based on a 3.4 WAR courtesy of FanGraphs. After two seasons with the Astros, Cole signed a nine-year, $324 million free agent contract with the Yankees.

Skenes’ candidacy for the National League Cy Young Award not only confirms the irrelevance of the win statistic but also demonstrates what he was able to accomplish with below-average run support from the Pirates. While posting a 10-10 record over 32 starts, Skenes received 3.4 run support per game this season according to Baseball-Reference. The major league average for a starting pitcher is presently 4.5 run support per game. According to Opta Stats, Skenes is the only pitcher in Major League Baseball history to finish a season with at least 200 strikeouts and an earned run average below 2.00 but doesn’t have a winning record since 1913 when earned run average became an official statistic.

Paul Skenes Serves Others Through Strikeouts

Skenes is the Pirates’ nominee for the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award, an honor that annually recognizes a major league ball player who best represents the sport through exceptional character, community service and philanthropic endeavors. He has partnered with the Gary Sinise Foundation over the past two seasons by donating $100.00 for every strikeout and set a campaign goal to raise $100,000.00 at the beginning of the 2025 season. The campaign goal was achieved along with the $150,000.00 revised goal. Skenes attended the United States Air Force Academy for two years before transferring to Louisiana State University. The Gary Sinise Foundation supports veterans, first responders, wounded heroes, families of the fallen and those suffering from invisible wounds.

It seems as if sand is passing through an hourglass at a rapid pace when it comes to Paul Skenes’ time with the Pittsburgh Pirates. There must be a sense of urgency this offseason to change the losing culture and build a competitive ball club around him. A pitching phenomenon who has become the heartbeat of the Pirates, Skenes wants to learn as much as he can from the failures of the 2025 season while focusing on improvement. The Pirates cannot allow history to repeat itself as it is not fair to Skenes or the fans who have already experienced the indignity of losing a once in a generation pitching talent.