Paul Skenes wins Cy Young, continues rare historical dominance

Through just 55 career MLB starts, Paul Skenes has established himself as one of the best pitchers in all of baseball. The LSU legend won the National League Rookie of the Year last season after posting a 1.96 ERA and 0.95 WHIP with 170 strikeouts in 133.0 innings. His sensational rookie campaign quickly made it clear that he wasn't just ready for the big leagues - he was ready to dominate.

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Skenes followed up his rookie season with an even better sophomore campaign. The flame-throwing right-hander posted a 1.97 ERA and 0.95 WHIP with 216 strikeouts over 187.2 innings of work. He was the clear Cy Young favorite in the National League for most of the season, and it became official on Wednesday night when Skenes was awarded the NL Cy Young Award for 2025.

Skenes was so dominant that he won the prestigious award unanimously. Every single vote went to Skenes in a decisive Cy Young campaign. That wasn't surprising to see, as Skenes led the majors in ERA (1.97), was second in WAR (7.6), fourth in WHIP (0.95), tied for fourth in strikeouts (216), and 10th in K/9 (10.4).

The Cy Young award is just the latest hardware for Skenes. Over the last 28 months, Skenes has become a College World Series National Champion, won the CWS Most Outstanding Player, won the Dick Howser Trophy, been the No. 1 overall pick in the MLB Draft, started the MLB All-Star Game twice, won the National League Rookie of the Year, and won the National League Cy Young. That is one of the most dominant stretches to begin a career in any sport in recent memory. Not bad for a player who had just two Division I offers coming out of high school.

Still at age 23, it's not crazy to say that Skenes' best could still be ahead of him. That's a scary thought for MLB hitters across the league. He's already proven that he is a perennial Cy Young contender on a yearly basis, and it will be fun to see what he has in store for Year 3 in 2026.