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Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates was named the National League Cy Young Award winner on the final ballot of the 2025 regular season, receiving all 30 first-place votes. The 2023 first overall pick followed his 2024 Rookie of the Year campaign with an MLB-best 1.97 ERA in his first full season and 216 strikeouts, edging Cristopher Sánchez and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The vote was unanimous, and Skenes becomes the third Pirates pitcher to win the Cy Young in franchise history. The announcement focuses attention on Skenes as the cornerstone of a Pittsburgh club aiming to end a decade-long postseason drought.
Key Takeaways
- Unanimous selection: Skenes received all 30 first-place Cy Young votes from BBWAA writers, finishing ahead of Cristopher Sánchez and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
- Dominant numbers: Skenes posted a 1.97 ERA in his first full MLB season and recorded 216 strikeouts, tied for second in the NL.
- Durability and workload: He ranked fourth in the NL with 187 2/3 innings pitched and produced 20 quality starts, tied for third in the senior circuit.
- Advanced metrics support: Skenes led the NL with a 2.36 FIP and finished fifth with a 3.10 SIERA; FanGraphs and Baseball-Reference placed him essentially even with Sánchez for WAR.
- Franchise context: He is the Pirates’ third Cy Young winner after Vernon Law (1960) and Doug Drabek (1990).
- Competition noted: Sánchez delivered a 2.50 ERA across 202 innings and 212 strikeouts; Yamamoto posted a 2.49 ERA with 201 strikeouts in 173 2/3 innings.
- Team implications: General manager Ben Cherington indicated the team expects Skenes to remain with Pittsburgh in 2026; he is under club control for multiple seasons.
Background
Paul Skenes entered the major leagues as the 2023 first overall pick and made an immediate impact, winning American League Rookie of the Year honors in his first full exposure to big-league hitters. After a strong 23-start rookie showing with a 1.96 ERA, expectations were high for his first complete season. The Pirates, seeking to return to the postseason after a long absence, have leaned on Skenes as their staff ace and primary trade-chip deterrent.
The Cy Young Award is voted on by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) after the regular season; postseason performance is not considered. This year’s balloting featured established veterans and rising stars across the senior circuit, with Cristopher Sánchez (Philadelphia) and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Los Angeles Dodgers) among the leading challengers. Voters considered traditional outputs and advanced metrics, and the unanimous nature of the result underscores how broadly Skenes’ season impressed both rate- and counting-stat evaluators.
Main Event
The BBWAA announced Skenes as the 2025 NL Cy Young winner after he topped the circuit in earned run average at 1.97 and tied for second in strikeouts with 216. Skenes completed 187 2/3 innings — fourth-most in the league — while delivering 20 quality starts and ranking fifth in strikeout rate among pitchers with at least 100 innings. Those raw totals combined with elite underlying metrics to make him the clear choice on every ballot.
Cristopher Sánchez finished second on every ballot and posted a breakthrough season of his own: 202 innings, a 2.50 ERA across 32 starts, and 212 strikeouts. Sánchez’s consistency and workload were major factors in his runner-up finish. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who had 201 strikeouts in 173 2/3 innings and a 2.49 ERA, placed third on slightly more than half of ballots; his postseason heroics with the Dodgers did not factor into the regular-season award.
The full voting distribution shows that Skenes and Sánchez appeared on every ballot, with Webb, Yamamoto, and Freddy Peralta splitting later-place votes. Logan Webb led the majors in strikeouts among those listed, and Webb’s 10 third-place votes vaulted him to a fourth-place finish in the tally. The BBWAA-provided vote sheet confirms the unanimity of Skenes’ selection and the narrower separations among the trailing candidates.
Analysis & Implications
Skenes’ unanimous win is notable because singular ballots rarely line up so completely across national writers. The combination of a sub-2.00 ERA for the full season (1.97), elite strikeout totals (216), and strong innings usage (187 2/3) made his case unusually straightforward. Advanced measures — a 2.36 FIP and 3.10 SIERA — reinforce that his performance was not solely a product of defensive support or luck.
For the Pirates, the award cements Skenes’ status as the organization’s foundational player. He will be the centerpiece of any strategy to end Pittsburgh’s long postseason drought, both by his on-field impact and by altering trade-market calculations; other teams are less likely to pay a premium to pry away a young, award-winning ace under club control. The club’s public stance that Skenes will remain a Pirate in 2026 reduces immediate trade chatter, though the possibility of deals later in his control window remains.
At the league level, Skenes joins a very short list of starters who have combined sustained dominance with durability. Being the only starting pitcher with a sub-2.00 ERA over the past two seasons (including his 1.96 as a rookie) places him in rarefied company and will likely accelerate conversations about long-term contracts and dynasty-era comparisons. The debate about the game’s best pitcher now centers on Skenes and AL counterparts such as two-time AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal; both are often discussed as No. 1 and No. 2 in various orders.
Comparison & Data
| Pitcher | ERA | Innings | Strikeouts | FIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Skenes | 1.97 | 187.2 | 216 | 2.36 |
| Cristopher Sánchez | 2.50 | 202.0 | 212 | — |
| Yoshinobu Yamamoto | 2.49 | 173.2 | 201 | — |
The table highlights why Skenes was the consensus choice: he combined an elite ERA with top-tier strikeout totals and strong innings. Sánchez’s heavier workload (202 innings) and Yamamoto’s high strikeout rate are also visible. FanGraphs and Baseball-Reference’s WAR tallies essentially split Skenes and Sánchez, illustrating that counting stats and contextual metrics produced a close overall value race even as voters leaned toward Skenes’ dominance in rate statistics.
Reactions & Quotes
The BBWAA vote sheet and league observers framed the result as both a validation of Skenes’ rapid rise and a milestone for the Pirates franchise. Reporters and analysts noted the rarity of a unanimous Cy Young selection.
“Paul Skenes received all 30 first-place votes to win the 2025 NL Cy Young Award.”
Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA)
Pirates management underscored their commitment to building around Skenes; the club emphasized control and continuity as priorities for the coming seasons.
“He will remain a Pirate in 2026,”
Ben Cherington, Pittsburgh Pirates (general manager, paraphrased)
Analysts reacted to the framing of Skenes among baseball’s elite, often pairing him with top AL arms in season-end rankings and award discussions.
“Skenes and a small group of peers are now the clear top-of-rotation names across MLB for the immediate future.”
National baseball analyst (paraphrase)
Unconfirmed
- Long-term contract plans: there is no public confirmation of a multi-year extension for Skenes beyond his existing club control; extension talks, if any, are not publicly detailed.
- Trade prospects: while Pittsburgh’s public statements downplay near-term trade chances, the possibility of a future trade during Skenes’ control window has not been ruled out by the club or outside teams.
- Exact internal evaluations: teams’ private medical and scouting reports that would affect long-term valuation of Skenes, Sánchez or Yamamoto are not publicly available and remain undisclosed to voters and media.
Bottom Line
Paul Skenes’ unanimous NL Cy Young victory is both a personal milestone and a strategic pivot point for the Pittsburgh Pirates. His combination of sub-2.00 ERA across two seasons, high strikeout totals, and strong advanced metrics justifies the broad consensus among writers and places him among the sport’s elite arms. For Pittsburgh, the award increases the club’s leverage: Skenes is a foundational on-field asset whose presence reshapes roster planning and trade calculus.
League-wide, the award sharpens conversations about pitching valuation and long-term contract risk for young aces. While Sánchez and Yamamoto posted excellent seasons and remain bona fide frontline starters, Skenes’ unique blend of peak results and sustained excellence across consecutive seasons delivered a clear, unanimous choice. The coming offseason and 2026 campaign will reveal whether Skenes continues to ascend or if new challengers emerge to claim the top spot.
Sources
- MLB Trade Rumors — article covering the BBWAA vote and team reactions (media)
- Baseball Writers’ Association of America — official vote tallies and award information (official association)
- FanGraphs — advanced metrics and WAR calculations (analytical media)
- Baseball-Reference — statistical database and season leaderboards (statistical reference)