4 days Ago By Danny Demilio, Pittsburgh Baseball Now
After a historic first season with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Paul Skenes has been named the 2024 National League Rookie of the Year as voted on by the Baseball Writers’ Association of American. Skenes received 23 of the 30 first-place votes and San Diego Padres’ Jackson Merrill gotthe other seven. Merrill finished second and Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio finished in third place.
Skenes is the second Pirates’ player to ever win the award, joining Jason Bay in 2004 . The 22-year-old Skenes had a meteoric rise with the Pirates after he was selected with the top pick in the 2023 draft out of LSU. Skenes began the 2024 season with Triple-A Indianapolis but was quickly promoted to the big leagues for a memorable debut against the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park on May 11.
It didn’t take long for Skenes to make an immediate impact on the Pirates and turn his starts into must-watch television for fans around the sport. In his second-career start, which also came against the Cubs, Skenes threw six no-hit innings and struck out 11 before he was pulled at Wrigley Field due to a high pitch count. The end result of the dominant start was his first-career win, the first of 11 for him on the season.
Skenes concluded the first-half of the regular season with what turned out to be his best start of the season. Facing the Brewers in Milwaukee on July 11, Skenes tossed seven n0-hit innings and struck out 11 batters before he was once again pulled due to a high pitch count. The most memorable moment for Skenes during his rookie season came the next time he took the mound, only this time, he wasn’t wearing a Pirates’ uniform.
Skenes started for the National League in the All-Star Game in Arlington, Texas, one of five pitchers in league history to start the Midsummer Classic as a rookie. The rookie sensation threw a scoreless frame in his lone inning of work. He picked up the second half right where he ended the first.
In his first start after the break, Skenes threw a career-high 8.1 innings against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Despite another dazzling start, Skenes suffered his first loss of his career as the Pirates were defeated 2-1 at PNC Park. There was a brief stretch in August where Skenes was still effective but looked a bit more ordinary than he had during the first three months of his career. However, Skenes silenced any concerns of potential fading with an exceptionally strong month of September.
In five starts during the final month of the season, Skenes allowed just two runs in 24 innings, struck out 34 and held opponents to a minuscule .445 OPS. In total, Skenes finished his rookie campaign at 11-3 with a 1.
96 ERA. He set the Pirates rookie record for strikeouts in a season with 170 — against only 32 walks. No starting pitcher in baseball had a lower ERA than Skenes after his debut.
In addition to Rookie of the Year voting, Skenes is a finalist for the 2024 National League Cy Young . This article first appeared on Pittsburgh Baseball Now and was syndicated with permission..
