Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal are seeing their individual award collections grow significantly. The next phase in the careers of these top baseball pitchers involves winning, ideally with their current teams.
23-year-old Skenes completed his rapid ascent to stardom by securing the National League Cy Young Award unanimously on Wednesday. The Pittsburgh Pirates standout was chosen for the honor by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Shortly after, Skubal clinched his second consecutive American League top pitching award as a key player for the Detroit Tigers.
Despite their satisfaction with the accolades, both players expressed their eagerness for their teams to excel in the upcoming season.
However, the future with their current clubs remains uncertain.
Uncertainty Looms with Current Teams
Skubal, aged 28, is approaching the final year of his contract with the Tigers. While he desires to continue with Detroit beyond the upcoming season, he understands that the team might opt to trade him due to financial considerations, especially given the substantial pay raise he could command as a free agent.
Skenes, on the other hand, is under team control until the end of the decade. Despite rumors suggesting his desire to leave, he refuted these claims, emphasizing his commitment to winning with the Pirates.
“I don’t know where that came from,” Skenes stated. “The goal is to win and the goal is to win in Pittsburgh.”
Despite finishing at the bottom of the NL Central in 2025, Pittsburgh’s Skenes remains optimistic about the team’s potential to contend in the near future.
“The way that fans see us outside of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh is not supposed to win,” Skenes remarked. “There are 29 fan bases that expect us to lose. I want to be a part of the 26 guys that change that.”
Pirates’ Ace Shines in Debut Season
Skenes, the first overall pick by the Pirates in the 2023 draft, showcased his talent in 2025. Leading the league in ERA with 1.97 and striking out 216 batters in 187 1/3 innings, Skenes had an impressive debut season in the majors.
Despite his outstanding performance, Skenes needed late offensive support from the struggling Pirates to avoid ending the season with a losing record. He wrapped up the season with a 10-10 record.
Even with a modest win-loss record, the 6-foot-6 right-hander received all first-place votes on the Cy Young ballots. Philadelphia’s Cristopher Sanchez secured all second-place votes, while World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Los Angeles Dodgers finished third.
Skubal, on the other hand, received 26 first-place votes in the American League. The remaining four votes went to Garrett Crochet of the Boston Red Sox, who finished as the runner-up. Hunter Brown of the Houston Astros took third place.
Both Skenes and Skubal were starters in this year’s All-Star Game. The last time both All-Star Game starters won the Cy Young Awards in the same season was in 2001, achieved by Randy Johnson and Roger Clemens.
The Most Valuable Player awards for both leagues will be announced on Thursday.
Shohei Ohtani from the Los Angeles Dodgers is a strong favorite to win the NL MVP for the second consecutive year and fourth time overall. In the AL, New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge is vying for his third MVP, facing tough competition from Seattle’s Cal Raleigh.
