Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes has won the 2024 NL Rookie of the Year award, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America announced Monday.
Skenes defeated outfielders Jackson Merrill of the San Diego Padres and Jackson Chourio of the Milwaukee Brewers to become the first Pirate to win Rookie of the Year since Jason Bay in 2004 and the first NL starting pitcher to take home the award since Jacob deGrom in 2014.
The right-hander was the No. 1 pick in the 2023 MLB draft, and 10 months later he made his debut with the Pirates and quickly became the team’s top prospect.
Skenes received 23 of 30 first-place votes and seven second-place votes. Merrill received seven first-place votes and 23 second-place votes.
The 22-year-old star’s numbers were so dominant that Skenes was also a finalist for the NL Cy Young Award.
Skenes’ rookie year ended with him winning 11 of his 23 starts and posting a 1.96 ERA and 0.95 WHIP with 170 strikeouts and 32 walks in 133 innings. He held opponents to a .198 batting average and allowed two or fewer earned runs in 15 of his starts. Skenes is the 11th pitcher in the last 30 seasons to post an ERA under 2.00 while pitching at least 120 innings.
A key factor that played a role in Skenes’ success in 2024 was his power. He threw 100 pitches at at least 100 mph, the most in the MLB and well ahead of the 46 thrown by Los Angeles Angels starter José Soriano.
Despite Pittsburgh’s last-place finish in the NL Central for the fourth time in the past six seasons, Skenes provided a glimmer of hope for Pirates fans this year. In July, he became just the fifth rookie pitcher to start an All-Star Game and the first since Hideo Nomo in 1995.
Skenes’ rookie season was so impressive that his own team is doing everything they can to get his autographed MLB Debut rookie card.
