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david schoenfield
tariq skubal Whereas, confirmed its greatness in 2025 Paul Skenes Confirmed that it is just the beginning.
Scooble, left handed ace detroit tigerswon his second consecutive American League Cy Young Award on Wednesday, while Skenes, a second-year right-hander pittsburgh piratesFollowed his Rookie of the Year season by winning his first National League Cy Young Award by unanimous vote.
Skubal becomes the first pitcher to win twice in a row jacob degrom in 2018–19 and the first AL pitcher to do so since Pedro Martínez in 1999 and 2000. Skenes became the fifth pitcher to win the Cy Young Award in his first or second season, joining Fernando Valenzuela (1981), Brett Saberhagen (1984), Dwight Gooden (1985) and Tim Lincecum (2008).
Skubal pointed out boston red sox left hand Garrett Crochet And Houston Astros right handed batsman hunter brown In a poll conducted by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, Skenes remained ahead philadelphia phillies left hand christopher sanchez And los angeles dodgers right handed batsman yoshinobu yamamoto,
Skubal finished 13-6 with a 2.21 ERA and 241 strikeouts in 195⅓ innings, leading the AL in both Baseball-Reference WAR (6.5) and FanGraphs WAR (6.6), while leading qualified pitchers in ERA, strikeout rate (32.2%), lowest walk rate (4.4%), OBP allowed (.240) and OPS allowed (.559). Also led.
Using a blistering fastball that averaged nearly 98 mph and one of the best changeups in the game, which limited batters to a .154 average and recorded 110 strikeouts, Skubal did not give up a run in 12 of his 31 starts, the most scoreless starts of at least six innings in Tigers history and the most in the majors since. adam wainwright in 2014.
Skubal credited the organization for developing his hitting changeup and pitch design, which he improved after suffering injuries early on.
“I think a lot of it came from my injury in ’23 and the rehab,” Skubal told MLB Network after winning the award. “I was able to work on things for a long time on rehab assignments that maybe you wouldn’t necessarily have been able to do in a spring training setting, so getting hurt in that aspect is kind of a blessing in disguise.”
Skubal recorded double-digit strikeouts in 10 outings and had his most impressive game in the majors in 2025 when he pitched a two-hit shutout with 13 strikeouts. cleveland patron On May 25, only 94 pitches were needed. His game score of 96 was the best in the AL in 2025 and tied for sonny gray For the highest among majors.
A ninth-round pick out of Seattle University in 2018, Skubal had Tommy John surgery in college and suffered some injuries early in his MLB career after reaching the majors in 2020, but with good health and improved fastball command, put everything together over the past two seasons, going 31-10 with a 2.30 ERA and leading the AL in ERA both seasons.
“It doesn’t matter where you come from,” Skubal said. “I got an offer from high school [in Arizona]And this is 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 whether you are good at 12 or good at 24 or 25. There’s a lot to happen and just take your career forward day by day.”
His 2025 season ended in disappointment when he started Game 5 of the American League Division Series for the second consecutive year, but the Tigers lost both games. This postseason, against seattleHe allowed one run with 13 strikeouts in six innings and walked a 2–1 lead, but the Mariners ultimately 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 could entertain trade possibilities this offseason.
On Wednesday, Tigers GM Jeff Greenberg reiterated that the team is not commenting on its plans.
“We know what he means to this organization, especially over the last few years,” Greenberg said at the GM meeting in Las Vegas. “We’re not going to talk about our players in terms of trades or extensions. That’s fairness to him and the Tigers. He’s a Tiger. We’re happy to have him.”
Boras said earlier Wednesday that “we will continue to discuss” a possible extension for the Scubbles during the offseason.
Scoble is one of five Detroit pitchers to win the Cy Young Award, along with Denny McClain (1968 and 1969), reliever Willie Hernandez (1984). Justin Verlander (2011) and max shazer (2013).
Skenes finished 10–10 with a 1.97 ERA and 216 strikeouts in 187.2 innings for the Pirates, allowing only 11 home runs and limiting bats to a .199 average. He led NL pitchers in ERA, WHIP (0.948) and FanGraphs WAR (6.5), while ranking second in strikeouts and second in lowest OPS.
He became the third Pirates pitcher to win the award, joining Vern Law (1960) and Doug Drabek (1990).
The Phillies’ Sanchez had a stronger case, finishing 13–5 with a 2.50 ERA and outscoring Skenes in the Baseball-Reference WAR (8.0 to 7.7) while pitching 15 more innings, but Skenes’ lower ERA was the deciding factor. At age 23, Skenes is the youngest eligible pitcher to finish with a sub-2.00 ERA since Gooden and the third-youngest eligible pitcher 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 renowned workout routine and deep arsenal of pitches have contributed to his success. He throws seven different pitches, including his sweeper (.150 average allowed) and his changeup (.103) that are nearly impossible to hit, but it is still the tremendous four-seam fastball that has recorded his 104 strikeouts.
Skane’s win-loss record is impressive, as he matches deGrom (10-9 in 2018) for fewest wins by a Cy Young starter (except the shortened 2020 season), but he was troubled by poor run support: The Pirates allowed no runs in five of his 32 starts and one run in the other five. The Skanes didn’t allow any 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.
Skanes becoming a 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 only 34 innings in the Minors, he made his debut in May 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, becoming the first pitcher to start in his first two seasons.
ESPN’s Jesse Rogers contributed to this report.
