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David Schoenfield
Tarik Skubal confirmed his greatness in 2025, while Paul Skenes affirmed his is just beginning.
Skubal, the left-handed ace for the Detroit Tigers, won his second consecutive American League Cy Young Award on Wednesday, while Skenes, the second-year right-hander for the Pittsburgh Pirates, followed up his Rookie of the Year season by winning his first National League Cy Young Award in a unanimous vote.
Skubal becomes the first pitcher to win back-to-back since Jacob deGrom in 2018-19 and the first AL pitcher to do so since Pedro Martinez in 1999 and 2000. Skenes becomes just the fifth pitcher to win a Cy Young Award in his first or second season, joining Fernando Valenzuela (1981), Bret Saberhagen (1984), Dwight Gooden (1985) and Tim Lincecum (2008).
Skubal outpointed Boston Red Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet and Houston Astros right-hander Hunter Brown in voting conducted by the Baseball Writers Association of America, while Skenes finished ahead of Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sanchez and Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Adam Wainwright in 2014.
Skubal credited the organization for the development of his lethal changeup and the pitch design that improved after he initially got hurt.
«I think a lot of it came after I got hurt and rehabbed in ’23,» Skubal told MLB Network after winning the award. «I was able to work on things for extended periods of time on rehab assignment that maybe not necessarily you would have been able to do in a spring training setting, so there’s kind of a little bit of a blessing in disguise in getting hurt in that aspect.»
Cleveland Guardians on May 25, requiring only 94 pitches. His game score of 96 was the best in the AL in 2025 and matched Sonny Gray for highest in the majors.
A ninth-round pick out of Seattle University in 2018, Skubal had Tommy John surgery in college and some injuries early in his MLB career after reaching the majors in 2020, but with good health and improved fastball command, put everything together the past two seasons, going 31-10 with a 2.30 ERA while leading the AL both seasons in ERA.
«It doesn’t matter where you come from,» Skubal said. «I had one offer out of high school [in Arizona], and it’s not a Power 5 school by any means but look at me now. So, I think that’s the beauty of the game of baseball. It doesn’t matter if you’re good at 12 or good at 24 or 25. There’s a ton of stuff to happen and just take your career day by day.»
His 2025 season ended in disappointment when for the second straight year he started Game 5 of the American League Division Series, only to see the Tigers lose both games. This postseason, against Seattle, he gave up one run in six innings with 13 strikeouts and left with a 2-1 lead, but the Mariners eventually won 3-2 in 15 innings.
Skubal has one season left until he reaches free agency. If the Tigers can’t sign him to an extension — his agent is Scott Boras, and Boras clients rarely sign extensions this close to free agency — the Tigers might entertain trade possibilities this offseason.
On Wednesday, Tigers GM Jeff Greenberg reiterated the team isn’t commenting on their plans.
«We know what he’s meant to this organization, especially over the last couple of years,» Greenberg said from the GM Meetings in Las Vegas. «We’re not going to talk about our players in the context of trade or extension. That’s in fairness to him and the Tigers. He’s a Tiger. We’re happy to have him.»
Boras said earlier Wednesday that «we’ll continue to discuss» a possible extension for Skubal during the offseason.
Skubal is one of five Detroit pitchers to win the Cy Young Award, joining Denny McLain (1968 and 1969), reliever Willie Hernandez (1984), Justin Verlander (2011) and Max Scherzer (2013).
Skenes finished 10-10 with a 1.97 ERA and 216 strikeouts in 187.2 innings for the Pirates, allowing just 11 home runs and limiting batters to a .199 average. He led NL pitchers in ERA, WHIP (0.948) and FanGraphs WAR (6.5), while ranking tied for second in strikeouts and second in lowest OPS allowed.
He becomes the third Pirates pitcher to win the award, joining Vern Law (1960) and Doug Drabek (1990).
The Phillies’ Sanchez had a strong case, finishing 13-5 with a 2.50 ERA and edging Skenes in Baseball-Reference WAR (8.0 to 7.7) while pitching 15 more innings, but Skenes’ lower ERA was the deciding factor. At 23, Skenes is the youngest qualified pitcher to finish with a sub-2.00 ERA since Gooden and the third-youngest to finish with a sub-2.00 ERA and 200 strikeouts, behind only Gooden and Vida Blue in 1971.
While Skenes averaged 98.2 mph with his fastball, his already legendary workout routines and deep arsenal of pitches have contributed to his success. He throws seven different pitches, with his sweeper (.150 average allowed) and his changeup (.103) nearly impossible to hit, but it’s still the overpowering four-seam fastball that registered 104 of his strikeouts.
Skenes’ win-loss record stands out, as he matches deGrom (10-9 in 2018) for the fewest wins by a Cy Young starter (excluding the shortened 2020 season), but he was plagued with poor run support: The Pirates scored no runs in five of his 32 starts and one run in another five. Skenes allowed no runs in 12 starts but went just 7-0 in those games. He allowed one run in six starts but went just 1-2 in those outings.
Skenes’ rise to Cy Young winner is no surprise. After starting his college career as a two-way player at Air Force, he transferred to LSU for his junior season and had one of the best seasons ever for a collegiate pitcher, becoming the first overall pick in the 2023 draft. After just 34 innings in the minors, he debuted in May of 2024 and pitched so well in 11 starts (6-0, 1.90 ERA) that he started the All-Star Game. He started again in 2025, making him the first pitcher to start in his first two seasons.
ESPN’s Jesse Rogers contributed to this report.
