Pirates' Skenes claims NL ROY over Merrill, Chourio
Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Paul Skenes was named the 2024 National League Rookie of the Year by the Baseball Writers' Association of America on Monday.
Skenes received 23 first-place votes to edge out San Diego Padres outfielder Jackson Merrill and Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio. Chicago Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga, the only other rookie to receive votes, finished fourth. It's the fewest number of players to earn votes for NL Rookie of the Year under the BBWAA's three-player-per-ballot format, which began in 1980.
Skenes is the second Pirates player to win Rookie of the Year, joining Jason Bay in 2004, and the first NL starting pitcher to win it since Jacob deGrom in 2014. He's the fifth former first overall pick to earn the award in either league, following Bob Horner in 1978, Darryl Strawberry in 1983, Bryce Harper in 2012, and Carlos Correa in 2015.
"This is cool, and I think the coolest part is it puts a bow on this past year, and we can kind of look forward to next year," the 22-year-old said on MLB Network after receiving the award.
Skenes left quite an impression barely a year after the Pirates selected the pitcher out of LSU. Armed with a six-pitch arsenal that includes a fastball averaging 99 mph and a devastating "splinker," he went 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, and 170 strikeouts, along with an 11.5 K/9 rate across 133 innings.
Though he didn't have a complete game, Skenes threw at least six innings in 16 of his 23 starts and worked into the seventh inning five times, including an 8 1/3-inning gem against the St. Louis Cardinals on July 23. He only allowed more than three runs in a start once - when he gave up four against the Dodgers on Aug. 10 - and had five starts with no runs allowed and eight-plus strikeouts. His season-high in Ks was 11, which he achieved twice.
Since Paul Skenes debuted on May 11, no one had a lower ERA than his 1.96. He did it with 170 SO in 133 IP. He allowed 2 runs all of September, a 196/255/314 slash line a 3rd time thru the order. At times, he seemed to carry an entire city on his shoulders. A worthy RoY.
— Alden González (@Alden_Gonzalez) November 18, 2024
Skenes was picked to start this year's All-Star Game for the NL despite having just 11 big-league starts under his belt to that point. He's also a finalist for this year's NL Cy Young Award, which will be announced Wednesday.
His award win also gained Skenes an additional full year of service time, meaning he'll now reach free agency in 2029 instead of 2030, according to theScore's Travis Sawchik. The Pirates had Skenes open his season with Triple-A Indianapolis before he got the call-up May 11.
Despite his brilliant pitching, the Pirates finished 2024 in last place and posted a losing record for the ninth straight season. But Skenes said he feels positive about the team's future and is confident he'll be the ace of a contender in Pittsburgh next summer.
"I'm optimistic. We obviously have a really good core in our starting rotation. I think we have a really good core in the lineup, too," Skenes said, according to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "We have an opportunity to get the guys that we have better. That's something I'm bought in on.
"You can say as much as you want about wanting to compete and wanting to win, but doing it and being intentional with it are two different things," he added. "I think we are on the right track there."
Skenes and AL winner Luis Gil are the first pair of starting pitchers to win their respective league's Rookie of the Year award in the same season since Fernando Valenzuela and Dave Righetti in 1981, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com. It's the fifth time pitchers have won in both leagues.