PITTSBURGH — Paul Skenes is not thinking about the Cy Young speech he’ll likely be asked to make the week before Thanksgiving. The Pittsburgh Pirates ace isn’t thinking about the elite company he’s kept through his first two big league seasons either.
The 23-year-old doesn’t pitch to win awards, but games. And neither Skenes — though largely through no fault of his own — nor his team have done enough of that to avoid another last-place finish in the NL Central.
So no matter how much Skenes believes he’s grown professionally during his first full season in the majors — and he’s a near lock to become the first player in four decades to win the Rookie of the Year one year and the Cy Young the next — he’s more concerned about how the Pirates respond over the winter.
“This is a wasted year if we don’t learn what we need to do and we don’t know why we didn’t go out there and do what we wanted to do,” Skenes said Friday. “If those things happen, then it’s a wasted year, in my opinion. I don’t think that’s happening. I think — individually, as a team and as an organization — we know the adjustments we need to make. Now we’ve just got to do them.”
A season that began with the club hoping to return to contention for the first time in a decade quickly disintegrated during a nightmarish 12-26 start that led to manager Derek Shelton’s firing. While Don Kelly steadied things after replacing Shelton and Skenes has been the most dominant pitcher in the game, Pittsburgh entered its final home series against the Athletics this weekend having dropped 11 of 12 to assure the franchise of its 29th losing season since 1992.
The worst offense in the majors — Pittsburgh is last or near last in every major offensive category, from runs to home runs to OPS — has also put Skenes on the cusp of making some unwanted history. Despite an MLB-leading 2.03 ERA to go with 209 strikeouts and a .199 batting average against, Skenes holds just a 10-10 record heading into what will likely be his final start of the season early next week in Cincinnati.
No starting pitcher has ever captured the Cy Young with a record of .500 or worse. Skenes is a heavy favorite to hear his name called when the award is announced on Nov. 20. By then, Skenes will already have begun his preparations for 2026. He’s hoping and expecting those around him to do the same.
“There’s room to get better in this locker room,” he said. “We just need to do it. I’m sure we’ll get some pieces and do all that, but my mind right now is ‘What can we do within the locker room to get better, now and for next year?’ There’s urgency to it, and we need to understand that and act on it.”
To Skenes, whose combination of talent, work ethic and charisma has already thrust him into a leadership role despite having been in the majors all of 16 months, that means being willing to challenge yourself in ways you haven’t before.
“It’s going to take a lot of guys taking a look in the mirror, figuring out what it is that they need to get better at, and making sacrifices to do that,” he said.
Kelly, who seems likely to stay on as manager for his hometown team in 2026, credited Skenes for being unafraid to have “tough conversations” despite his relative inexperience. Being willing to constantly walk the walk helps.
“(It’s) just the way that he leads himself first, and then carries himself that way, works like that, dominates on the field, it gives him that voice to be able to have those conversations with other people,” Kelly said.
Pittsburgh figures to have one of the better rotations in baseball next year behind Skenes, Mitch Keller and 23-year-old Bubba Chandler. There is reason for optimism, but Skenes pointed out the team thought the same thing at the end of last season, and yet here the Pirates are playing out the string in late September once again.
Pittsburgh’s quickest path to contention may be parting with some of its young pitching talent if it wants to upgrade an offense that has been woeful regardless of who is starting, even Skenes, who has an ERA of 1.74 in his 11 no-decisions.
While Skenes allowed “the book is out on him” now, he’s found a way to stay a step — and in some cases two or three — ahead of most opponents. He believes he’s a more complete pitcher than he was a year ago, and he credited the Pirates for helping him successfully navigate 31 starts and 181 2/3 innings and counting.
Amid the losing, Skenes has tried to remain upbeat. He’s also been firm in his commitment to the team and the community. He spent a portion of a rare Thursday off day by delivering meals to firefighters and first responders at a station in the suburbs, joking it was kind of a bummer he didn’t get to blare the horn on one of the trucks.
Though he remains under team control for the rest of the decade, general manager Ben Cherington has faced questions on whether Skenes — who will likely command record-setting numbers once he becomes eligible for salary arbitration should he stay on his current path — could one day be traded.
The club remains firm in its commitment to him, though there haven’t been any talks about a possible extension, mostly because it’s not something Skenes wants to discuss during the season. That may come up over the winter, though Skenes will be more focused on shoring up what few holes he may have in his game, even if he doesn’t know what they might be.
“I’ll figure it out,” he said. “I’ll figure out exactly what it is. I know I can get better. Just got to figure out what it is.”
